US District Court judge rules DACA unlawful, casts uncertainty on program’s future

This post was updated July 18 at 8:43 p.m.

A United States District Court judge ruled Friday that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was unlawfully implemented under the administration of former President Barack Obama.

Judge Andrew S. Hanen ruled that the Obama administration created DACA in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, which stipulates requirements for lawmaking.

The ruling will allow individuals currently in the DACA program to remain in the country during a period of deferred action. The ruling also stated that the program can continue to receive but cannot approve new applications and renewals.

In 2018, there were 600 to 700 UCLA students who were undocumented. 

Former President Barack Obama issued an executive branch memorandum to create DACA in an effort to protect individuals brought into the country as children from deportation. DACA currently protects around 700,000 young adults from deportation.

In 2017, after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security tried to overturn DACA, the University of California Board of Regents filed a federal lawsuit against former President Donald Trump’s administration, stating the administration’s attempt to end the DACA program violated the rights of the UC and its students, according to a UC press release.

[Related: Supreme Court hears UC’s case against Trump administration’s DACA repeal] 

The Supreme Court overturned DHS’s attempts to repeal the program last year, ruling that the decision did not follow the Administrative Procedure Act.