Trump Administration Says it Will Reject New DACA Applicants as it Considers Ending Program Entirely

The Trump Administration is halting applications to the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program as it examines the policy’s viability going forward, the Department of Homeland Security announced in a memo on Tuesday. DHS also said it would no longer accept applications for Employment Authorization Documents and is renewing existing DACA protections for only one year, rather than two.

The news comes just weeks after the Supreme Court rejected the administration’s effort to end the Obama-era policy, which has provided legal protections and work permits to some 800,000 unauthorized immigrants, or "DREAMers," who came to the United States as children. The Court ruled that the administration’s move to cancel the program was “arbitrary and capricious” and asserted that it had failed to “provide a reasoned explanation for its action.” It did not, however, address the legal viability of DACA or its rescission, thereby leaving open the opportunity for the White House to pursue other avenues to repeal.