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In 2012, then President Barack Obama by Executive Order the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA often called “Dreamers”), giving young unauthorized immigrants the right to seek work permits and deportation relief through the DACA program.

On September 5, 2017, with a stroke of a pen, Trump phased out over six months unless Congress stepped in with its own plan for these childhood arrivals, but gave the Republican-controlled Congress until March 6, 2018 to replace it. Trump promised to sign the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (Dream Act) that would have granted legal status to certain undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children and went to school here. 

The Dream Act was first introduced in the Senate on August 1, 2001, by Senators Dick Durbin (D- Illinois) and Orrin Hatch (R- Utah), and has since been reintroduced several times but has failed to pass. The legislative goal was to provide a means for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children to gain a pathway to permanent legal status; provided those individuals achieved certain milestones. Because Congress failed to pass the Dream Act, that’s why Obama issued the DACA program by Executive Order. 

But Trump kept changing the rules in midstream by demanding a quid pro quo -- he would sign the Dream Act or other help for Dreamers if Congress provided money for a wall and limited visas for extended family members, which Republicans call chain migration, and cancelled the visa lottery program. 

Trump, however, kept changing the rules in midstream by demanding a quid pro quo -- he would sign a Dream Act or other help for Dreamers if Congress provided money for a wall and limited visas for extended family members, which Republicans call chain migration, and cancelled the visa lottery program.  

Trump knew or should have known that Congress was unlikely to pass the Dream Act by March 6 when several versions of the bill have been introduced in Congress since 2001, but never passed, and Democrats would not agree to Trump’s quid pro quo. Furthermore, bipartisan deals on immigration have eluded lawmakers and presidents for three decades.  

Trump then, turning truth on its head, Tweeted, “DACA is dead because the Democrats didn’t care or act, and now everyone wants to get onto the DACA bandwagon.” 

Although Trump once claimed a "great love for DACA recipients,” the death of DACA played to his base of supporters who were delighted with his continued anti-immigrant stance. Dreamers don’t need this kind of love. 

Federal District Judge William Alsup of the US District Court for the Northern District of California had blocked Trump’s plan to end DACA, holding that the Trump administration must resume accepting renewal applications. And on February 26, 2018, the Supreme Court said it would stay out of the dispute concerning the DACA program for now, meaning participants will still be able to renew their status. The Supreme Court action meant the case would continue in the lower courts.  

On December 4, 2020, U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis in Batalla Vidal v. Wolf became the first lower court to fully restore the DACA program. The Court ordered the Department of Homeland Security to post a public notice by December 7, 2020, to accept first-time applications and ensure that work permits are valid for two years.  

President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to fully restore the DACA program as soon as he takes office in January. 

I expect the DACA program will eventually reach the Supreme Court again. Until then, the Dreamers can breathe easier for awhile.