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US Immigration: The Uneasy Future of DACA in the Shadow of Texas-vs-US Lawsuit By BBC North America Affairs The long-running legal dispute known as Texas v. United States has reached a critical and complex juncture, potentially fragmenting the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme. Following a mandate from a federal appeals court, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has proposed a plan that would allow DACA to resume accepting new applications nationwide for the first time in years, but with an extraordinary caveat: residents of Texas who apply would be excluded from receiving work permits. This legal carve-out underscores the deep constitutional divide between state and federal authority over immigration policy and places thousands of young people, often referred to as "Dreamers," into an unprecedented state of legal flux. The DACA programme, established by the Obama administration in 2012, offers protection from deportation and provides renewable two-year work permits to certain individuals who came to the United States as children without legal status. For more than a decade, it has enabled nearly 600,000 people across the US, including approximately 90,000 in Texas alone, to pursue education, obtain employment, and establish roots in American communities. The current legal challenge, initiated by Texas and other Republican-led states in 2018, contends that the programme was unlawfully created through executive action rather than by Congress. In 2021, US District Judge Andrew S. Hanen in Texas ruled that DACA was indeed illegal, halting new enrolments.
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While a subsequent decision by the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the protection against deportation for current DACA recipients, it agreed that the component granting work permits was likely unlawful. The new DOJ proposal, presented to Judge Hanen, is an attempt to adhere to this circuit court ruling by creating a two-tiered system based solely on the applicant's state of residence. The Impact of a Two-Tiered Legal Status Legal analysts suggest that the proposed "Texas carve-out" would create significant practical and constitutional instability. Under the plan, a DACA applicant in any of the other 49 states could receive both deportation protection and a work permit. However, an applicant residing in Texas would only receive protection from removal, rendering them unable to gain legal employment. Furthermore, the proposal suggests that existing DACA recipients who move to Texas could risk losing their work authorisation. The fundamental legal issue in Texas v. United States centers on whether the executive branch exceeded its statutory authority in implementing such a broad programme. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has consistently argued that DACA constitutes a major regulatory action that requires congressional approval.
Dr. Eleanor Vance, a constitutional law expert at Rice University, stated that the development reveals the extent of the judicial stalemate. "This is a profound, if temporary, fragmentation of federal law. We are seeing the creation of a 'Texas-vs' standard, where the rights afforded by a federal programme change at the state line," Dr. Vance explained. "It raises immediate equal protection questions for those who happen to reside in the challenging state, but it is the administration's compromise to keep the core of the programme functional while the lawsuit continues. " Anxiety and Political Stalemate The announcement has elicited concern among immigrant advocates who argue the split ruling does little to alleviate the deep uncertainty facing young immigrants. "DACA was meant to provide stability, not a permanent state of precarious employment," commented Maria Delacruz, head of the Texas Immigrant Rights Coalition. "To tell a young Texan they can stay, but they cannot legally earn a living, undermines the entire purpose of the promise made a decade ago.
It forces them to choose between their home state and their ability to work and thrive. " The legal proceedings are far from over. Judge Hanen must still decide whether to approve the DOJ's proposal, after which the case is highly likely to be appealed back to the Fifth Circuit and possibly to the US Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Congress, which has the power to legislate a permanent solution for the DACA population, has been repeatedly unable to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Outlook for Permanent Stability The outcome of the Texas v. United States litigation is poised to be one of the most defining legal battles over executive power and immigration in recent American history. The current proposal, while offering a limited lifeline to new applicants outside of Texas, institutionalises a temporary, geographically dependent status that many analysts believe cannot stand indefinitely. For the hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients, the ongoing legal drama means their lives remain tethered to the pronouncements of federal judges and the political inertia of Washington. Until the Supreme Court or Congress issues a definitive final ruling, the residents of Texas, and indeed the entire DACA population, will continue to face a future defined by state versus federal legal friction, forcing difficult decisions about their professional and residential lives.
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