By Eoin Higgins
Despite a Supreme Court ruling last month blocking his attempt to end a program protecting undocumented people in the U.S. who arrived in the country as children, President Donald Trump announced on July 28 that he will nonetheless refuse all new applications and only allow one-year renewals for existing participants while the program undergoes a review.
“This latest swift and callous action against DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] shows how much work remains,” tweeted the National Immigration Law Center of the decision. “We must continue to fight back against Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda.”
Critics view Trump’s call for a “review” and halt to new applicants as a way to subvert the high court’s ruling while the White House assesses how best to further undermine the Obama-era program.
“The Trump administration must accept new DACA-applications AND extend legal protection for the full two years. Anything less is in defiance of the Supreme Court.”
ACLU
In the meantime, according to CNN: “The administration will reject all initial requests and application fees for new filings “without prejudice” to future applications. The administration will adjudicate all applications for renewal on a ‘case-by-case basis’ consistent with immigration law, but will provide renewals for one year, rather than the current two years. And all applications for advanced parole “will be rejected absent extraordinary circumstances.”
“This partial termination of DACA is unlawful—the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to fully restore the program,” tweeted Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas).
The ACLU unleashed on the White House, calling the decision “patently illegal.”
“The Trump administration must accept new DACA-applications AND extend legal protection for the full two years,” the group said on Twitter. “Anything less is in defiance of the Supreme Court.”
RAICES chief of advocacy Erika Andiola also didn’t mince her words on the administration’s move.
“There is absolutely no reason for this,” said Andiola. “Nothing. Not a legal reason. Not a political reason. Just hate.”
Eoin Higgins is a Staff Writer with Common Dreams.
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