WASHINGTON (TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018) _CASA is reviewing legal options today after a federal district court judge in Maryland issued an opinion that the Trump administration had a right to end DACA, the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals which gave more than 800,000 undocumented young people, who arrived in the United States as children, the ability to work and study in the only country they have ever known. 

“Judges across the country have agreed that racial animus was behind his decision to end DACA and thus the cancellation of the program was illegal,” said George Escobar, Director of Legal Services for DACA, the largest immigrant rights organization in the Mid-Atlantic region.

In the Maryland case, federal judge Roger Titus acknowledged that Trump engages in “unfortunate and often inflammatory rhetoric. Thoughtful and careful judicial review is not aided when the President lobs verbal hand grenades at the federal courts, the Department of Justice, and anyone else with whom he disagrees.” He goes on to describe the president’s remarks as “disheartening” and “inappropriate.”  While leaving the DACA cancellation intact, the Court did enjoin the Trump administration from utilizing the information provided by DREAMers in their DACA applications for enforcement purpose.

Despite the Maryland opinion, two other cases, one in California and the other in New York, remain in litigation.  A California judge in January blocked DACA termination saying the program must stand while legal challenges are worked out in the courts. DREAMers in Maryland and the 4th circuit are still protected by that national injunction. 

“The judiciary is the last line of defense for the Dreamers and we still hope we can depend on the courts to save our young people from deportations,” said CASA’s Executive Director Gustavo Torres. “With the lack of action from Congress and the President’s decision to cancel the program with no solution in place, we see the judiciary branch as our last hope. President Trump broke up DACA and as far as we see it, is showing no intention to fix it.”