Headline Roundup • September 14th, 2023
Federal Judge Again Says DACA is Illegal
Summary from the AllSides News Team
A revised version of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has again been deemed illegal by a federal judge who issued the same ruling previously.
The Details: Judge Andrew Hanen affirmed his 2021 ruling that former President Barack Obama exceeded his authority when he implemeted the program. Current recipients can keep and extend their protections, but no new applications will be processed.
Key Quotes: The Department of Homeland Security "is enjoined from implementing Final Rule DACA until a further order of the Court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, or the Supreme Court of the United States," Hanen wrote. "As we have long maintained, we disagree with the District Court's conclusion that DACA is unlawful, and will continue to defend this critical policy from legal challenges," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
For Context: The Biden administration had revised DACA in an effort to bolster its legal status. There were more than 580,000 DACA participants at the end of 2022, according to government data.
How the Media Covered It: Sources across the spectrum covered the news. Bias reflected root differences on immigration. Right-rated sources focused more on Hanen's reasoning; left and center-rated sources focused more on the Biden administration's response. Reuters (Center bias) described Hanen as "Republican-appointed." Many on the left and center said new applications "would not be allowed." Fox News (Right bias) highlighted how Hanen DHS can "accept" new applications but "may not grant any."
Featured Coverage of this Story

REUTERS/Ted Hesson
A U.S. judge on Wednesday ruled against a program offering deportation relief and work permits to immigrants brought to the country illegally as children, known as "Dreamers," despite an attempt by President Joe Biden's administration to bolster the program's standing with a new regulation.
The decision by Texas-based U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen deals a fresh setback to the program, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and its 579,000 enrollees and other immigrants who might have hoped to be approved.
Hanen, a Republican-appointed judge, found that a regulation...
A federal judge on Wednesday again deemed illegal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that protects undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children.
Driving the news: DACA's protections will remain in place for more than half a million beneficiaries. However, no new applications will be allowed.
What they're saying: "As we have long maintained, we disagree with the District Court's conclusion that DACA is unlawful, and will continue to defend this critical policy from legal challenges," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
"While we do so, consistent with...
A revised version of the federal policy known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which prevents the deportation of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, has once again been deemed illegal by a federal judge who gave the same ruling previously.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen said in his decision Wednesday that on July 16, 2021, the court vacated the DACA program created by the 2012 DACA Memorandum, which prohibited the U.S., its departments, agencies, officers, agents and employees from granting new DACA applications and administering the...
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