Judge Andrew Hansen of the District Court of Texas issued an order last week requiring the Department of Justice to release the personal information of around 108,000 people who received three-year reprieves from deportation and three year work permits under the DACA program. This is being done because these 3 year permits are a result of the DACA expansion, and Texas wants to revoke these permits because they do not believe that the expansion will become law.
When the DACA expansion was first announced along with the creation of DAPA, Texas and 25 other states quickly challenged these programs, giving way to the Supreme Court case we now know as United States v. Texas. The Department of Justice told Judge Hansen that during the period between the implementation of DAPA and the DACA expansion and the challenge from these states there were little to no three year permits issued. When Judge Hansen learned that this was not true, he issued this order in hopes that the permits that were issued would be able to be revoked.
What are going to be the consequences of this order?
In order to know the consequences of this order, we are first going to have to see if it stands. There are hopes that the order is going to be appealed successfully in the near future, and if this were the case the would be thrown out and no information would be released. If the order does stand however, this personal information will be released, and those who received these permits will be at risk of having them revoked. This could eventually lead to the improper deportation of DACA recipients, which is something that simply cannot stand. While this order was issued in Texas, it is likely that other states will issue similar judgments after seeing whether or not this one will stand.
What does this mean for you?
In the event that this order stands, anyone who received one of these permits is at risk. If you are one of the individuals who received one of these permits, we urge you to reach out to us as soon as possible so that we can begin developing a strategy to protect you from the result of this order and any like it. There are many ways in which we be able to help you, from the protection that some of our programs offer to helping you achieve legal status.
We offer a free questionnaire that we urge you look through if you are not currently a resident of the United States, located in the offers section on the left hand side of the screen. This questionnaire will examine your immigration options, and help you determine if you qualify for legal status in the United States. If it turns out that you do qualify for legal status, we urge you to contact us and allow us to help you on this path. If you do not qualify for legal status however, we may still be able to help you through our Safe and Secure programs.
What is the Safe Program?
The Safe Program is our general application program that anyone can use. This program helps ensure you are safe from trouble with U.S. law enforcement officers, and also helps make sure that you know your rights. Through the Safe Program, you receive a printed ID card that you can present to law enforcement if you are ever pulled over and accused of committing a crime. If you present this ID to law enforcement, you make it clear to them that you do not plan on answering any questions without your lawyer present. This helps avoid the law enforcement officers intimidating a confession out of you, and ensures that you are treated fairly.
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