Thread: Federal judges in Richmond hear case challenging termination of DACA program

Federal judges in Richmond hear case challenging termination of DACA program

By: Sara McCloskey
Posted: Dec 11, 2018 06:50 PM EST
Updated: Dec 11, 2018 06:53 PM EST

RICHMOND, Va. -- A panel of three federal judges heard oral arguments Tuesday in a case challenging the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, also known as DACA.

Plaintiffs in Casa De Maryland v. Department of Homeland Security included 16 undocumented immigrants in the program from Virginia and Maryland, as well as nine organizations from across the nation.

The Trump administration rescinded the Obama-area program last year. The case comes before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals as several courts have put holds on the program from being phased out.

Advocates such as CASA, a Latino and immigrant organization, and the Legal Aid Justice Center rallied outside the courthouse following the proceedings.

“We know that this is a constant fight,” Luis Aguilar, the Virginia State Director of CASA, said. “It has to happen both in the streets and it also has to happen in the court.”

One of the plaintiffs in the case is Jose Aguiluz. Aguiluz was in a car accident back in his home country of Honduras when he was a teen, severely injuring his neck. His parents sold everything for the surgery.

“They decided it was for my health, for my new medical condition that living in Maryland was the best option,” Aguiluz said.

In Maryland, Aguiluz says he excelled in school and had colleges “recruiting” him. Because of his status as an undocumented immigrant, he didn’t have the right paperwork and most colleges denied him. At one point, he was going to a community college, where he worked part-time as an electrician while taking courses to become a registered nurse. He wasn’t able to start taking care of patients until six years ago.

“I’ve been helping save Americans lives ever since I got DACA,” he explained.

The Obama-era program allowed undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children to apply for deferred action from deportation every two years. They would also be able to apply for work permits.

Last year, the Trump administration moved to get rid of the program. It was mentioned, along with other initiatives to prevent what the administration calls illegal immigration.

Attorneys in the Casa de Maryland say that’s illegal.

“It’s unconstitutional. It violates the equal protection guarantees of the constitution it also violates due process guarantees that people have,” John Freedman, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said. “It violated the statute called the Administrative Procedures Act which governs how the federal government has to go about making agency decisions.”

Referencing the statute, Freedman also said the public needs to “know what happened behind the scenes” to cause this change in policy.

DACA applicants, such as Aguiluz, used personal information to apply for the program. Attorneys are trying to prevent governments agencies from using that information against them.

“Many of the individuals are concerned that if there’s no restriction in place there’s nothing that would prevent the administration from using that information to start deportation proceedings,” Freedman explained.

The argument to protect this information was upheld and supported in the previous court, while the claims mentioned beforehand were not.

The attorney representing the Department of Homeland Security argued in the court that there is no merit for the equal rights and due process claims since the executive branch was using its power to enforce policy changes, which they said the courts shouldn’t challenge or review.

The question of whether or not an administration acting on policy changes, like rescinding the DACA program, could be reviewed by a court was brought up a number of times.

The attorney for DHS did not wish to comment on the proceedings.

It will take a few months for the judges to release a decision on this case.

https://www.wric.com/news/politics/capitol-connection/federal-judges-in-richmond-hear-case-challenging-termination-of-daca-program/1653851502

DACA immigrants rush to re-register, just 3.7 percent rejected, 699,350 accepted

For the tenth time DACA is not a law. It was just an executive order by obama where in he said he would not enforce immigration laws. For a judge to say that that means all future presidents cannot enforce immigration laws is absurd!!!

Why is this even an issue.?