MALDEF

A HISTORY OF TEXAS' EFFORT TO CHALLENGE DACA IN FEDERAL COURT


September 2, 2017


The White House announced on Friday that it will release its decision on the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative on Tuesday, Sept. 5. In anticipation of the decision, MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) has prepared this timeline of significant dates in the history of DACA.

June 15, 2012: The Obama administration announces the DACA initiative, which allows undocumented young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children to temporarily remain in the U.S. and obtain work visas for two years.

November 20, 2014: The administration moves to expand DACA and introduces Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA), an initiative that would allow parents of U.S. citizen or permanent resident children to temporarily remain in the U.S. and obtain work permits.

December 3, 2014: Texas and 25 other states ask a federal court in Texas to block implementation of DAPA and the expansion of DACA. That lawsuit is known as Texas v. United States.

February 16, 2015: U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen issues a preliminary injunction blocking DAPA and expanded DACA from being implemented. The U.S. Department of Justice appeals the decision.

April 17, 2015: The United States Court of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit hears oral argument in the appeal of the injunction.

May 26, 2015: A divided three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit upholds the injunction blocking DAPA from being implemented.

November 9, 2015: The Fifth Circuit overturns Hanen’s decision to deny MALDEF’s request to intervene in Texas v. United States on behalf of three Texas mothers who sought to apply for DAPA.

January 19, 2016: The U.S. Supreme Court grants the Obama administration’s petition for a writ of certiorari, agreeing to consider whether the injunction against DAPA was properly granted.

April 2016: The U.S. Supreme Court hears oral argument in Texas v. United States. MALDEF, representing the lone intervenors in the case, presents oral argument on behalf of the three mothers.

June 23, 2016: The U.S. Supreme Court announces without detail a 4-4 deadlock of the justices in United States v. Texas. As a result, Judge Hanen’s preliminary injunction remains, blocking the implementation of DAPA.

June 15, 2017: Following many months of a stay in the case for the new administration to decide its position, Texas refuses to agree to further delay. In response, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security officially rescinds DAPA, ending an initiative that existed on paper only.

June 29, 2017: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and nine states involved in the 2015 lawsuit threaten to amend the DAPA lawsuit to challenge DACA if the 2012 initiative is not rescinded by Sept. 5. The state’s request is at odds with Texas’ assertions throughout the case that it was not challenging the original DACA initiative.

July 28, 2017: MALDEF asks a federal court in Brownsville, Texas to dismiss the 2015 lawsuit filed by Texas against DAPA because the case became moot once the initiative was rescinded.

August 31, 2017: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton reiterates that the state has given the Trump administration an arbitrary Sept. 5 deadline to rescind DACA or face a lawsuit. The deadline does not require the administration to take action.

September 1, 2017: Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery, one of the signatories of the earlier threat letter, issues a new letter signaling that his state will not seek to challenge DACA in court after all. He urges congressional leaders to move swiftly to address the issue.



Founded in 1968, MALDEF is the nation's leading Latino legal civil rights organization. Often described as the "Latino Legal Voice for Civil Rights in America" MALDEF promotes social change through advocacy, communications, community education, and litigation in the areas of education, employment, immigrant rights, and political access. For more information on MALDEF, please visit: www.maldef.org.

Copyright 2009 MALDEF — Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund