NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Immigrants who built lives in the United States after being brought to the country illegally as children were among more than 200 demonstrators who gathered outside the federal courthouse in New Orleans on Thursday. , where three appellate judges heard arguments over the Biden administration’s policy protections. They can escape deportation.
At stake in the long-running legal battle before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals are people who lack citizenship or legal residency and who ultimately have long built a life in the United States. This is the future for approximately 535,000 people. be expelled. The case is likely to reach the Supreme Court.
“I live here. I work here. I have a house here,” said Maria Rocha Carrillo, 37. She traveled from her home in New York to participate in the demonstration and was in the front row of the packed courtroom as the hearing began.
She said she was brought to the United States when she was 3 years old because her family immigrated from Mexico. She was unable to obtain her teaching license until the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program allowed her to pursue a career in education.
Opponents of DACA, primarily Texas and eight other Republican-led states, have argued in court arguments and legal briefs that states will have to pay for medical, educational and other costs if immigrants are allowed to remain in the country illegally. Ta.
A key element of the debate before the appellate panel was whether the lead plaintiff, Texas, had shown standing to sue, and whether lower court judges in Texas had the authority to issue a nationwide judgment. I don’t know.
DACA supporters argued that Texas has not shown that the costs it cites result from the policy, and therefore has not shown that the policy is justified. Judge Stephen Higginson, who questioned Joseph Mazzara of the Texas Attorney General's Office, noted that 22 states have said they have benefited from contributions from DACA recipients, known as “Dreamers.”
“How can one judge say to all 22 other states that are grateful to these people that, in fact, they all have to leave the United States?” Higginson asked. “How can one judge have such authority?”
But Judge Jerry Smith said he doubted Texas lacked legal standing.
“I don’t understand how you come to a conclusion with that argument,” Smith told Brian Boynton, who was defending the Biden administration.
A previously contested 5th Circuit decision ruled that Texas did qualify. Boynton said the Supreme Court has since raised the standard for certifying states’ positions, but Smith said the precedent Boynton cited includes requiring an appellate court to reverse an earlier decision. It stated that it did not contain any obvious language.
It is unclear when or how Smith was appointed to the Fifth Circuit by former President Ronald Reagan. Edith Brown Clement, nominated by former President George W. Bush. Higginson, who was nominated by former President Barack Obama, will govern. The case will almost certainly end up in the Supreme Court.
President Obama first introduced DACA in 2012, citing Congressional inaction on legislation aimed at giving legal status and a path to citizenship for people brought to the United States as young adults. Years of litigation ensued. President Joe Biden renewed the program in hopes of gaining court approval.
Last year, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Houston said the executive branch overstepped its authority. Hanen barred the government from approving new applications, but left pending appeals pending for applicants who had already been approved for pending status. Boynton asked the judges on the 5th Circuit to keep that policy in place while appeals continue if they rule against DACA.
Outside the courthouse building Thursday, Wendy Reynoso, 24, said her family brought her to the United States from Guatemala when she was a toddler. She said her DACA application is stalled while the lawsuit continues, and she won’t be able to find a job as a mechanical engineer after college.
“It hurts to graduate with such a good degree and not be able to use it. So I was stuck,” she said.
Defenders of the policy argue that Congress gave the executive branch, the Department of Homeland Security, the authority to set immigration policy.
The states joining Texas in objecting to DACA are Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kansas, and Mississippi.
Those states’ allies in the court brief include the Immigration Reform Law Institute. “Congress has repeatedly refused to legalize DACA recipients, and no administration can do so on their behalf,” Dale L. Wilcox, the group’s executive director, said in a statement this year. .
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This version includes the correct spelling of DACA recipient María Rocha-Carrillo’s name. Some earlier versions incorrectly spelled it Marea Rocha Carrillo.
