Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), sometimes called Deferred Action for Parental Accountability, was a planned
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
immigration policy
Border control refers to measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it a ...
to grant
deferred action status to certain
undocumented immigrants
Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...
who have lived in the United States since 2010 and have children who are either
American citizens
Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...
or
lawful permanent residents
Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with suc ...
. It was
prevented from going into effect. Deferred action would not be legal status but would come with a three-year renewable work permit and exemption from
deportation
Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...
. DAPA was a presidential executive action, not a law passed by Congress.
The program was announced in November 2014 by President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
, along with a number of
immigration reform
Immigration reform is change to the current immigration policy of a country. In its strict definition, ''reform'' means "to change into an improved form or condition, by amending or removing faults or abuses". In the political sense, "immigration ...
steps including increased resources for border enforcement, new procedures for high-skilled immigrants, and an expansion of the existing
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, colloquially referred to as DACA, is a United States immigration policy that allows some individuals with unlawful presence in the United States after being brought to the country as children to receive ...
(DACA) program.
Several
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
s filed lawsuits against the
federal government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
, arguing that DAPA violates the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
and federal statutes. A temporary injunction was issued in February 2015, blocking the program from going into effect while the lawsuit proceeds. The
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
* Eastern District of Louisiana
* Mi ...
affirmed, and a
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
4–4 split decision in June 2016 effectively left the block in place.
On June 15, 2017, the
Trump administration
Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...
announced the rescission of the DAPA order.
Background
On June 27, 2013, the U.S. Senate's
Gang of Eight passed their
comprehensive immigration reform bill in the Senate.
[Josh Blackman, ''The Supreme Court, 2015 Term – Comment: Gridlock'']
130 Harv. L. Rev. 241 (2016). When pressed to take unilateral executive action to limit deportations on
Univision
Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...
in March 2014, President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
replied "until Congress passes a new law, then I am constrained in terms of what I am able to do."
On June 9, 2014, House Whip
Kevin McCarthy
Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician, serving as House Minority Leader in the United States House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as House Majority Leader under spea ...
announced that House Republicans had enough votes to pass the bill.
[ However, the next day House Majority Leader ]Eric Cantor
Eric Ivan Cantor (born June 6, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented Virginia's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2014. A Republican, Cantor served as House Minori ...
lost his primary election, so on June 30, Speaker John Boehner
John Andrew Boehner ( ; born , 1949) is an American retired politician who served as the 53rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served 13 terms as the U.S. represe ...
announced that he would not bring the bill to a vote.[ That same day, President Obama delivered remarks in the ]White House Rose Garden
The White House Rose Garden is a garden bordering the Oval Office and the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C., United States. The garden is approximately 125 feet long and 60 feet wide ( by , or about 684m²). It balances the Jacquel ...
promising to "fix as much of our immigration system as I can on my own, without Congress."[
Over the next eight months the Obama Administration went through sixty iterations of different possible executive actions. Finally, on November 20, 2014, President Obama delivered a primetime televised address to the nation announcing DAPA. The ]Office of Legal Counsel
The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) is an office in the United States Department of Justice that assists the Attorney General's position as legal adviser to the President and all executive branch agencies. It drafts legal opinions of the Attorney ...
advised that the program was constitutional, finding it was similar to President George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
's 1990 " Family Fairness" program. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson
Jeh Charles Johnson ( "Jay"; born September 11, 1957) is an American lawyer and former government official. He was United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2017.
From 2009 to 2012, Johnson was the general counsel of the Departm ...
then released two memorandums directing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration tha ...
to make undocumented individuals without criminal histories the lowest priority for removal, and to grant deferred action to undocumented immigrants who are the parents of a U.S. citizens or lawful permanent resident
A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...
.
The President's program, when combined with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, colloquially referred to as DACA, is a United States immigration policy that allows some individuals with unlawful presence in the United States after being brought to the country as children to receive ...
, would have delayed deportation of slightly less than half of the 11 million undocumented people in the United States. More than 10 million people in the United States reside in a household with at least one adult who would have been eligible for DAPA, with two thirds of those adults having lived in the United States for 10 years or more.[ Over half of the undocumented population eligible for the President's delayed deportation live in ]California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, and New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
.[
]
''United States v. Texas''
In December 2014, Texas and 25 other states, all with Republican governors, sued
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil acti ...
in the District Court for the Southern District of Texas asking the court to enjoin implementation of both DAPA and the DACA expansion. On February 16, 2015, Judge Andrew S. Hanen
Andrew Scott Hanen (born December 10, 1953) is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Early life and education ...
issued a preliminary injunction
An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...
blocking the DAPA program from going into effect while the lawsuit proceeds.
The Obama Administration appealed the order for a preliminary injunction and asked the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
* Eastern District of Louisiana
* M ...
in to stay the district court's injunction pending appeal. On May 26, 2015, the administration's motion for a stay was denied by a three member motions panel with one dissent, meaning that the government could not implement DAPA until the Fifth Circuit ruled on the appeal of the injunction order itself. That ruling came on November 9, 2015, with a three-member panel of the Fifth Circuit affirming the district court's preliminary injunction, with one dissent.
The divided circuit court affirmed the preliminary injunction and ordered the case back to the district court for trial. Judge Jerry Edwin Smith
Jerry Edwin Smith (born November 7, 1946) is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Early life and education
Born on November 7, 1946, in Del Rio, ...
, joined by Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod
Jennifer Walker Elrod (born Jennifer Leigh Walker; September 6, 1966) is a United States federal judge, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Background
Elrod was born in Port Arthur, Texas, Po ...
agreed with the district court that Texas has standing
Standing, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an ''erect'' ("orthostatic") position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the s ...
because of the cost of issuing drivers licenses to undocumented residents, and that President Obama's order violated the rulemaking
In administrative law, rulemaking is the process that executive and independent agencies use to create, or ''promulgate'', regulations. In general, legislatures first set broad policy mandates by passing statutes, then agencies create more deta ...
requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act.[ The majority made a new finding that the Immigration and Nationality Act "flatly does not permit" deferred action.] Judge Carolyn Dineen King
Carolyn Dineen King (born January 30, 1938, in Syracuse, New York) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Her chambers are in Houston, Texas.
Education and career
Born in Syracuse, ...
dissented, arguing that prosecutorial discretion In common law, the principle of prosecutorial discretion allows public prosecutors a wide lattitude to decide whether or not to charge a person for a crime, and which charges to file. A similar principle in continental law countries is called the p ...
makes the case non-justiciable
Justiciability concerns the limits upon legal issues over which a court can exercise its judicial authority. It includes, but is not limited to, the legal concept of standing, which is used to determine if the party bringing the suit is a party ...
, and that there had been "no justification" for the circuit court's delay in ruling.[
On November 10, 2015, the Justice Department announced it would ask the Supreme Court to reverse. Texas Attorney General ]Ken Paxton
Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. (born December 23, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the Attorney General of Texas since January 2015. Paxton has described himself as a Tea Party conservative.
Paxton was re-elected to a t ...
attempted to prolong consideration of the case until the next October term but the Supreme Court only granted him an eight-day extension to file his opposition brief. The Justice Department further hastened the case by waiving its right to file a reply brief. On January 19, 2016 the Supreme Court agreed to review the case. The Court took the unusual step of asking for briefing on the new constitutional question of whether DAPA violates the Take Care Clause
Article Two of the United States Constitution establishes the executive branch of the federal government, which carries out and enforces federal laws. Article Two vests the power of the executive branch in the office of the president of the Un ...
.
On June 23, 2016, the Supreme Court announced it had deadlocked 4–4 in a decision that read, in its entirety, "The judgement is affirmed by an equally divided court." The ruling set no precedent and simply leaves in place the lower court's preliminary injunction blocking the program.[ Although initially believed that the case could reach the Supreme Court again after Judge Hanen has held a trial,][ such hopes were dashed by President Trump's rescission of the DACA memo][ and the subsequent voluntary dismissal by Plaintiffs in the underlying district court action.
]
Analysis and studies
In February 2015, the Migration Policy Institute
The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) is a non-partisan think tank established in 2001 by Kathleen Newland and Demetrios G. Papademetriou. The Migration Policy Institute is supportive of Liberalism, liberal immigration policies.
About
The Migrati ...
estimated that about 3.7 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States are potentially eligible for DAPA, around 766,000 in just five counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
: Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
in California, Harris
Harris may refer to:
Places Canada
* Harris, Ontario
* Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine)
* Harris, Saskatchewan
* Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan
Scotland
* Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle of ...
and Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
in Texas, and Cook
Cook or The Cook may refer to:
Food preparation
* Cooking, the preparation of food
* Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food
* Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry
* ...
in Illinois.
The President's program, when combined with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, colloquially referred to as DACA, is a United States immigration policy that allows some individuals with unlawful presence in the United States after being brought to the country as children to receive ...
, would have delayed deportation of slightly less than half of the 11 million people in the United States who are undocumented. More than 10 million people in the United States reside in a household with at least one adult who would have been eligible for DAPA, with two thirds of those adults having lived in the United States for 10 years or more.[ Over half of undocumented residents eligible for the President's delayed deportation live in ]California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, and New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
.[
The program was challenged in federal court by 26 states. Of the 3.6 million undocumented parents eligible for DAPA, 2.2 million reside in states that did not join the lawsuit.][
A 2016 study of the impact of DACA on labor market outcomes for immigrants found that if the same effects apply to DAPA as DACA, then DAPA could potentially move over 250,000 unauthorized immigrants into employment.
]
Eligibility
If DAPA had been implemented, a person would have been eligible if the person:[{{Cite web, url = http://www.uscis.gov/immigrationaction, title = Executive Actions on Immigration, date = 15 April 2015, publisher = U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services]
* Had lived in the United States without interruption since January 1, 2010,
* Had been physically present in the United States on November 20, 2014 (the date the program was announced),
* Had been physically present in the United States when applying to the program,
* Had lacked lawful immigration status on November 20, 2014,
* Had, as of November 20, 2014, a child who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident,
* Had not been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor, or three or more other misdemeanors, and
* Had not "otherwise pose a threat to national security or be an enforcement priority for removal".
See also
* Immigration to the United States
Immigration has been a major source of population growth and Culture of the United States, cultural change throughout much of the history of the United States. In absolute numbers, the United States has a larger immigrant population than a ...
*
References
External links
Department of Homeland Security, Executive Actions on Immigration
A Guide to the Immigration Accountability Executive Action
Decision of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal affirming preliminary injunction against implementation of executive order
United States immigration law
Illegal immigration to the United States