In response to a district court’s ruling that decided the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program unlawful, the Biden Administration filed an appeal. In the filing, the administration cited a Supreme Court decision from June 2023. The initial district court decision, made in September 2023, favored Texas and eight other states, which had contested the DACA program on grounds of public cost impact.

However, the Supreme Court, in its June 2023 ruling, established that states cannot challenge federal immigration enforcement based solely on public costs. The Biden Administration is now leveraging this Supreme Court precedent to challenge the district court’s ruling.

In the appeal, the administration highlights that the Supreme Court rejected the arguments put forth by the Texas-led states, which included claims that the states qualified for an exception under the Administrative Procedure Act, that their costs for providing social services to DACA recipients justified their opposition to the program, and that they were protecting their citizens when the federal government was not.

Notably, the Biden Administration had previously presented an updated DACA program in 2021, addressing concerns raised by the district court against the original Obama-era plan. Although the Circuit Court upheld the lower court’s ruling on the Obama-era plan, it returned the Biden administration’s revised plan back to the lower court for further review. In September 2023, the district court once again deemed the Biden program unlawful.

This legal dispute is part of an ongoing series of battles over the DACA program.

We continue to actively monitor U.S. immigration issues. If you have questions about DACA or any other U.S. immigration-related issue, reach out to us at any time. We work with you, every step of the way of your immigration journey.