The Department of Homeland Security announced, on Wednesday, that processing for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program renewals will continue, due to court injunctions. In September, President Donald Trump gave Congress six months to create legislation to repair what he described as a legal overreach by former President, Barack Obama, who created the DACA program via executive action in 2012.
That deadline passed on Monday, but two judges have issued injunctions, which have prevented the planned phasing out of the deferred action program by the Trump administration. Those injunctions will likely remain in effect until legal challenges to the efforts of the administration have been resolved. The Department of Homeland Security, therefore, has little choice but to obey the injunctions issued by the courts.
But, the Wednesday statement from the Department suggests that the debate over the Dreamers may be becoming less of a priority for the Trump administration while the legal battles play out. This also appears to be the case in Congress, which is controlled by the Republican Party, where any attempts at immigration reform have now been shelved until after the midterm elections, in November.
Tyler Houlton, the spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, says that DACA designations are valid for two years but that the majority of recipients of the program are not target or priority groups for arrest or deportation from the US.