DACA dealt a legal setback by federal appeals court

A federal appeals court on Friday dealt the immigration program known as DACA a legal setback, keeping the program alive but teeing up a showdown at the Supreme Court.

A federal appeals court on Friday dealt the immigration program known as DACA a legal setback, keeping the program alive but teeing up a showdown at the Supreme Court. In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the policy was unlawful but said that a federal judge in Texas had erred in concluding that the entire program should be halted nationwide. The court instead narrowed the injunction against part of the program so it would only apply to Texas. The ruling injects fresh uncertainty for around half a million recipients of the Obama-era program that allows undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US illegally to live and work in the United States. The appeals court kept in place a pause on a lower-court ruling that barred the government nationwide from accepting new applications to the program, meaning that for now, DACA remains largely intact. “Because (Department of Homeland Security) intended the aspects of DACA to be severable and to function independently from one another, the district court erred by not severing the forbearance provisions from the work-authorization provisions,” Judge Jerry Smith, Ronald Reagan appointee, wrote in the ruling. Nina Perales, vice president of litigation for MALDEF, which represents DACA recipients in the case, said it’s unclear what the court’s ruling means for DACA participants in Texas who are allowed to work.