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Federal District Court Blocks Trump Administration from Ending DACA

11 Jan

On Tuesday, January 9, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California largely blocked the Trump Administration’s effort to terminate the DACA program. Finding that the decision to terminate the program was based on a flawed legal premise, the court held that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in establishing that the decision to end the program was “arbitrary and capricious” in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. Accordingly, the court issued an injunction requiring the CIS to continue receiving and adjudicating DACA renewal applications.

The court’s decision does not require the CIS to accept new DACA applications, and does not require the CIS to continue issuing Advance Parole travel documents to DACA recipients. The court’s order does, however, require that the Administration continue to accept DACA renewal applications. Further, the CIS must “take administrative steps to make sure fair discretion is exercised on an individualized basis for each renewal application.”

The Government is likely to appeal this decision, and it is possible that the injunction could be lifted on appeal.