A federal judge in California has blocked the Trump administrations efforts to end DACA (the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program). Last year, California and other states filed a request to stop DACA from being rescinded. While that case has not yet been resolved, a San Francisco U.S. District Judge, William Alsup, has issued a ruling that halts the DACA program from ending while the legal challenge moves forward.
In the mean time, there has been significant movement toward reaching an agreement to address the issue of what to do with Dreamers (Dreamers is the term used to refer to recipients of DACA). In an earlier meeting, Trump met on-camera with a bipartisan group of congressional leaders to discuss the need for a DACA solution and urged them to create a clean bill, offering that he would sign whatever they brought him. However, the more recent alleged use of vulgar/derogatory words in a DACA bill review meeting and a recent post on twitter, which included a list of demands for a DACA deal that includes funding for a border wall, has cast uncertainty around what a DACA solution would look like.
In a previous post, I indicated that some members of Congress wanted to tie a solution for Dreamers to the vote on a government funding agreement that would avoid a government shutdown. Ultimately, that was pushed down the road with the approval of a second temporary fix, called a Continuing Resolution or CR, which avoided a government shutdown until January 19. That government shutdown deadline is again looming and the flurry of activity around creating a DACA solution may again be tied to the budget impasse. If DACA solution supporters decide to withhold votes for a government funding solution (or another CR) that doesn't include a DACA fix, it could result in a government shutdown.
For more information, read our previous blogs on DACA:
- Guest Blog: Schools, DACA, and Increased Anxiety Among Immigrants
- Education Rights for Undocumented Students Unaffected by Trump Canceling DACA.
For access to a free DACA Information letter (available in English and Spanish) to use with parents and your community, click here.
