DACA

LOS ANGELES, CA – The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that the Trump Administration will rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative, caving in to a threat by 10 states, led by Texas, that they would sue the federal government if DACA was allowed to continue.

Please attribute the following statement on Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery’s decision not to pursue a legal challenge of DACA to Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund).

Brownsville, TX – A threat by the State of Texas to amend a lawsuit to include a belated challenge to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative should be thrown out on the grounds that the original lawsuit is not related to DACA, according to a motion filed in federal court today.

Los Angeles, CA – Please attribute the following statement on the letter from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and 10 other states demanding that the federal government rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative to Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund):

LOS ANGELES, CA – MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) today released a first-of-its-kind toolkit designed to help undocumented youth obtain the critical records needed to apply for temporary relief from deportation under President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. “DACA has already benefitted hundreds of thousands of young immigrants,” said Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF President and General Counsel. “This toolkit should assist countless others who are eligible but have not applied, perhaps because of the difficulty in obtaining the necessary evidence and documentary proof of eligibility for discretionary DACA relief.” Under DACA, undocumented youths who were born after 1981, came to the United States before age 16, and remained in the country since 2007, are eligible to receive relief from potential removal, work authorization, and a Social Security card.

LOS ANGELES, CA – The United States Supreme Court today denied a petition to rehear United States v. Texas, a case challenging the constitutionality of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, including the expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the initiation of Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA).

BROWNSVILLE, TX – A federal judge in Texas today left in place a stay on a prior order requiring that the personal information of some 50,000 immigrant youth be handed over to the court.

BROWNSVILLE, TX – MALDEF was in United States District court today seeking to stop the federal government’s release of personal information on ten of thousands of young immigrants. In addition, yesterday MALDEF filed papers in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans seeking to block the order of Judge Andrew Hanen requiring the United States to turn over to him the names, addresses and other personal information of approximately 50,000 immigrant youth who received three–year grants of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) between November 2014 and February 2015.

AUSTIN, TX – A federal judge in Brownsville, Texas has ordered that the federal government provide him the names and addresses of over 100,000 recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in Texas v. United States, the pivotal case challenging the constitutionality of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration. The order also indicates that the judge may later release this private information to the plaintiff States in the case.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, MALDEF President and General Counsel, Thomas A. Saenz, presented oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Texas, a case challenging the constitutionality of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, including the expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the initiation of Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA).

WASHINGTON, DC -Today, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to review Texas v. United States, a case challenging the constitutionality of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, including the expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the initiation of Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA). MALDEF’s clients, three mothers from South Texas, were the only parties granted intervention, joining the Obama Administration in defending the case as it moved through the Supreme Court.

NEW ORLEANS, LA – Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an order allowing MALDEF’s clients, three mothers from south Texas who intend to apply for Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA), to participate as parties in the appeal recently decided by a Fifth Circuit panel. The women will therefore have party status, with all rights of parties, including briefing, argument, and participation in all case-related matters, as the case moves to the Supreme Court. Today, the United States Department of Justice filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to hear the case on President Obama’s executive actions on immigration. As the appeals process moves to the U.S. Supreme Court, MALDEF will advocate on behalf of the three mothers in Texas v. United States, adding a human dimension to this pivotal case.