[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Last Friday, a federal judge in Washington D.C. ordered the Trump administration to continue processing renewal applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.\u00a0 The ruling of U.S. District Judge John D. Bates changes nothing for the time being.\u00a0 The Trump administration announced it was ending DACA last year, but the program has been kept alive by several court rulings.\u00a0 While not accepting new applications, the government has been processing renewals for several months.<\/p>\n
A separate legal challenge to the constitutionality of DACA is currently in a Texas federal court.\u00a0 This lawsuit, rather than challenging the legality of the Trump administration’s decision to end the program, instead challenges DACA as a whole.\u00a0 The lawsuit was filed by seven states and is led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.\u00a0 The judge overseeing this legal challenge, U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen, previously blocked an Obama era executive order based on DACA.\u00a0 Should Judge Hanen rule in favor of Texas and the other plaintiff states, the government would have conflicting court orders.\u00a0 The issue of DACA would most likely move to the Supreme Court where it faces an uncertain future.<\/p>\n