President Donald Trump though acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf (photo) will sidestep a Supreme Court ruling and move to drastically limit access to and limit the protections of the Obama-era program known as DACA.
The administration believes DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is still illegal, NBC News reports. Acting Secretary Wolf on Tuesday announced he will not accept any new applicants to the program that protects undocumented immigrants who were brought into the country as children.
Acting Secretary Wolf will also reduce the renewal period for existing participants from two years to one year, even despite the ongoing pandemic.
In a statement published Tuesday DHS says acting Secretary Wolf “will take action to thoughtfully consider the future of the DACA policy, including whether to fully rescind the program.”
Last week Democrats demanded Trump begin accepting new applicants, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s June 18 ruling.
“Based on the Court’s decision, because the rescission was unlawful, your Administration must immediately return to implementing the DACA memorandum as it existed prior to the attempted rescission,” the letter, penned by House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship Chair Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), reads. “This means processing new applications for DACA, which your Administration has refused to do.”
“Compliance with the Supreme Court’s judgment is not a matter of Executive branch discretion,” they say. “Failure to comply with the Supreme Court’s judgment is illegal, unconstitutional, and effectively an act of tyranny.”