Atlanta, GA — MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) will present oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit today on behalf of students denied admission to flagship schools in the University of Georgia system because of their immigration status.
Who: Burth G. López, Staff Attorney, MALDEF
When: Today, Aug. 14, 2018, at 9 a.m. ET
Where: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Elbert P. Tuttle United States Court of Appeals Building
Courtroom 338
56 Forsyth Street, N.W.
Atlanta, GA
What: Oral argument in appeal of district court ruling in Estrada v Becker.
Background: MALDEF and the law firm Horsley Begnaud, LLC sued the Board of Regents, which oversees the University of Georgia system, in September 2016 on behalf of three recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The lawsuit challenged that the Board’s inconsistent policy preventing lawfully present students with deferred action from enrolling in the system’s top tier schools while still allowing them to attend less prestigious state schools.
MALDEF is appealing a May 2017 district court ruling against the plaintiffs. That decision relied on a ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upholding an injunction issued in Texas by District Court Judge Andrew S. Hanen that blocked the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) initiative.
Judge Hanen is currently presiding over a Texas-led lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of DACA. Additional briefs in the case were filed yesterday. No additional hearings have been scheduled, and Judge Hanen’s decision is pending on a request for a preliminary injunction to force the federal government to cease renewals of current grants of deferred action.