An Update on Texas v. United States DACA Case

Today, July 6, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will hear oral arguments in the DACA case, Texas v. United States.

DACA is under threat once again.

This is a case brought by Texas trying to end the DACA program. The lower court agreed with Texas and declared the DACA program illegal on July 16, 2021, but the lower court allowed DACA renewals to continue. The Biden administration and MALDEF want the DACA program to continue, so they appealed the lower court decision. The appellate court will now decide if they agree with the District Court’s decision on July 6, 2022.

The plaintiffs in the case are Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina, and West Virginia.

The defendants are the United States, Defendant-Intervenors (22 individual DACA recipients, represented by MALDEF), and New Jersey.

A decision is expected any time after oral arguments. A decision could be issued within a few days of the oral argument or several months later.

If the Fifth Circuit agrees that the program should end, the Biden Administration can request further review of the case at the United States Supreme Court, which means that the Supreme Court could possibly rule on the case in 2023. We cannot rely on this Supreme Court to be in favor of DACA. This could mean an end to DACA, including renewals.

If the Fifth Circuit agrees that the program should end, it might also immediately end renewals for current DACA recipients, although our hope is this does not happen. We don’t know exactly how or when the Fifth Circuit will rule, but we want you to be prepared for a negative ruling that could end renewals. We will do our best to provide updates in real time and keep you informed.

Find help: InformedImmigrant.com/daca-help

Adapted from graphics created by Informed Immigrant