San Antonio, TX – A federal judge in Texas today halted a lawsuit challenging the legality of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) until after the Supreme Court rules on the other DACA cases currently before it.
U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen ruled on a motion to stay filed by the State of New Jersey and supported by a separate motion to delay the Texas-led case filed by MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) on behalf of individual DACA recipients who were the first parties to intervene in the action. Under Hanen’s ruling today, the case will not proceed until 30 days after the U.S. Supreme Court issues a decision on the separate DACA cases before it.
Please attribute the following statement on today’s order to Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF president and general counsel:
“Like much Texas-initiated litigation, this case – filed years after DACA implementation and many months after the filing of the DACA suits currently before the Supreme Court – seems to be more about engendering fear and division and about political grandstanding than about the law. It is clear that this side-show should await the high Court’s consideration of DACA, so today’s order appropriately puts the Texas case on hold.”
Please attribute the following statement on today’s order to Nina Perales, MALDEF vice president of litigation:
“Today’s ruling is a blow to Texas’s effort to end DACA before the Supreme Court has a chance to rule. DACA recipients will remain protected from deportation while the courts carefully consider the important benefits of DACA to the country.”
Read the order HERE and a timeline of the DACA lawsuit HERE.