Just days after the Trump Administration petitioned the Supreme Court to fast track a case involving the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty, the justices turned down the request without comment. The high court could still take up the case in 2020 after a lower court rules or could consider related cases on appeal.
The House Judiciary Committee yesterday passed two bills that would legalize so-called Dreamers and aliens with Temporary Protected Status or Deferred Enforcement Departure status. A third approved bill would provide Temporary Protected Status to Venezuelans in the U.S. illegally or preparing to migrate.
A Migration Policy Institute study found that 125,000 illegal aliens reach the age of 18 each year, and 98,000 graduate high school. When MPI last studied the so-called “Dreamer” population in 2003, 80,000 reached the age of 18 each year and 98,000 graduated high school each year. Congress is considering two bills that would legalize illegal-alien graduates who meet certain residency and other requirements.
On March 12, House Democrats plan to introduce a new version of the Dream Act that provides amnesty for certain Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure recipients as well as those who entered the country illegally as minors. If the Dream and Promise Act of 2019 (H.R. 6) resembles past versions, it would offer citizenship to millions.
Thanks to the feckless Republican leadership, President Trump is unlikely to get funding for his border “wall” or legislative solutions for the Southwest border crisis before the new Congress. Democrats are now firmly against even a bad deal like a DACA amnesty/wall funding trade. He will either have to veto the next continuing resolution, hoping the Democrats will change their mind, or rethink how he can win against a Democrat-controlled House and filibuster-limited Senate. Since a pre-Christmas shutdown is likely to produce only animosity, President Trump should think about re-branding his "wall" to increase public support for a broader solution next year.
A 19-state coalition of Democratic Attorneys General urged Judge Andrew Hanen to reject a Texas-led lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction against DACA and the program’s ultimate termination. An amicus brief in the case filed by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra argued that DACA is an exercise of prosecutorial discretion numerous presidents have used and ending it would cause states to lose hundreds of millions in tax revenue. A hearing on the case is set for August 8.
Last Friday the Justice Department filed a brief that lays out how the Administration would like Judge Andrew Hanen to proceed in the DACA challenge brought by seven states. The brief, which supports the states’ challenge, marks the first time the Administrations has weighed in on the case. The Administration plan could send the matter back to the Supreme Court quickly, according to the Constitution Center.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton today filed a lawsuit on behalf of seven states that seeks to force the federal government to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. President Trump moved to end DACA after a 10-state coalition threatened such a lawsuit, but federal district courts in California, New York and Washington, D.C. ruled DACA must continue. Joining Paxton in the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia.
On March 25th, a caravan of about 1,350 Central American migrants started a trip from the City of Tapachula on the Mexico-Guatemala border to the United States. The journey is being organized by Pueblos Sin Fronteras (People Without Borders), although the migrants are responsible for their own food and water. The migrants plan to reach the U.S. border and either apply for asylum or slip away from the group to cross illegally.
According to the Washington Post, White House officials asked Republican congressional leaders to explore cutting a deal in the omnibus spending bill that trades a short-term extension of DACA status for short-term border wall funding. The White House has denied the report but if such an offer has been discussed, it would mark a stunning reduction in the demands President Trump established for a DACA amnesty.