Republican-led states ask judge to shut down DACA program for immigrant "Dreamers"

Washington — Nine Republican-controlled states asked a federal judge in Texas on Tuesday to shut down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in its entirety over two years, a move that would prevent nearly 600,000 immigrants known as "Dreamers" from renewing their deportation protections and work permits.

The request from the coalition of states led by Texas represents the most pressing legal threat facing the Obama-era DACA program, which has continued to this day, although in a limited way, despite the years-old lawsuit challenging its legality and former President Donald Trump's attempts to dismantle it.

For over a decade, DACA has allowed hundreds of thousands of immigrants lacking legal status who were brought to the U.S. as children to work and live in the country without fear of deportation. But the program does not provide them permanent residency, a status only Congress can grant. As of September 2022, 589,660 young adults were enrolled in DACA, federal statistics show.