Jul 17, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Federal judge restores DACA to full power

Orion Rummler

Protesters hold a sign that reads Defend Dreamers — Protesters stand outside the Supreme Court on June 15. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

A federal judge ruled on Friday that the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) be restored to its full status, following the Supreme Court's decision that the Trump administration violated federal law when it ended the program.

Why it matters: Friday's decision would force the Trump administration to accept new DACA applications. However, the administration still has legal authority to try to end the program again.

Driving the news: The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in June to uphold protections from deportation for roughly 649,000 unauthorized immigrants in the U.S., by finding that the administration violated federal law in the way it rescinded the program in 2017.

"The dispute before the Court is not whether DHS may rescind DACA. All parties agree that it may. The dispute is instead primarily about the procedure the agency followed in doing so," Justice Roberts wrote in the Supreme Court's opinion.

Flashback: Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions revoked DACA in the fall of 2017, which kicked off a long process of lawsuits and federal court decisions leading to the Supreme Court taking up the case in November 2019, Axios' Stef Kight reports.

Read Friday's decision:

Go deeper: Coalition of businesses urges Trump to keep DACA in place following SCOTUS ruling

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Federal judge restores DACA to full power

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