Immigration

Appeals Court Sends DACA Case Back to Lower Court, Temporarily Protecting Dreamers

The ruling allows the program to go forward, but only for current DACA recipients known as Dreamers, not new applicants

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A federal appeals court on Wednesday granted a temporary reprieve to hundreds of thousands of young immigrants enrolled in a program allowing them to work and study in the U.S. without fear of being deported, but it’s unclear how long it will last.

The ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals directs the lower court judge who found that the decade-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was unlawful to take into consideration a new rule issued by the Biden administration.

It allows the program to go forwardbut only for current DACA recipients known as Dreamers, not new applicants.

On June 15, 2012, the Obama Department of Homeland Security announced DACA, a policy stating the U.S. would no longer deport some undocumented young people who arrived here as children, and allow them to get two-year work permits. But DACA allows no path to permanent status like citizenship, and immigration activists like Jose Munoz from United We Dream are urging Congress to work on a "long overdue" solution.

For more on this story, go to NBC News.

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