JUDGE SAYS GOVERNMENT DOES NOT HAVE TO ACCEPT NEW DACA REQUESTS
U.S. District Judge John Bates said the government does not have to accept new Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) requests, on Friday, going back on his initial order from Aug. 3.
Illegal immigrants who were brought over as children, known as “Dreamers,” can renew their DACA applications, but no new requests will be processed,
The Associated Pressreported.
Bates initially ordered U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to restart DACA by Aug. 23. USCIS warned restarting the program would force the agency to look at the uptick of roughly
50,000 new DACA applications instead of focusing on legal immigrant and guest worker applications, The Washington Times reported on Aug. 15.
The judge also delayed on providing special protections to DACA recipients. One of those protections is advance parole, where recipients can travel outside the U.S. and reenter the country, which can sometimes lead to citizenship.
Government officials said more than 100,000 new DACA applications and 30,000 advance parole requests would occur if DACA were completely rebooted and cause strain on USCIS,
The Washington Times reported Saturday. Bates also feared confusion by restarting DACA even though he said illegal immigrant children were having their rights withheld, according to an opinion.
Judge Says Government Does Not Have To Accept New DACA Requests