Second federal judge combats Trump administration in DACA debate

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By Chloe Teboe 2/14/2018

Individuals who came to the U.S. illegally as minors were reprieved on Tuesday from a March 5 deportation deadline after a federal judge temporarily blocked a Trump administration order.

This ruling came as lawmakers begin to discuss immigration in Congress and form proposals for the hearing coming up in just a few weeks. The Supreme Court is also meeting this week to discuss whether or not to take up the Trump administration’s appeal of this current case.

This is the second time that a federal judge has stalled the administration from ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. These pushbacks have given hope to DACA recipients, often called Dreamers. The first came from a federal judge in California last month, giving current DACA members the ability to renew their status, but failing to require that the Trump administration open the program to those who have not yet applied.

Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of the U.S. District court for the Eastern District of New York ruled on Tuesday that DACA members would likely be successful in challenging President Trump’s termination of Barack Obama’s program as “arbitrary and capricious,” according to CNN.

“Defendants indisputably can end the DACA program,” Garaufis wrote in his ruling in regards to the Trump administration. “The question before the court is thus not whether defendants could end the DACA program, but whether they offered legally adequate reasons for doing so. Based on its review of the record before it, the court concludes that defendants have not done so.”

Despite the controversy, senators are still preparing for the March 5 deadline. U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, told Fox News on Tuesday that lawmakers should still focus on that date, which is quickly approaching. Unless the Supreme Court takes any direct action, this timeline will not change.