Biden rule aims to preserve DACA but Congress has to act, say groups

President Joe Biden's new federal rule aims to preserve DACA from legal challenges, but immigration advocates say Congress needs to give a path to citizenship.

Immigration and legal advocacy groups say President Joe Biden's regulation to prevent legal challenges to a program shielding young undocumented immigrants from deportation does not go far enough and are calling on the U.S. Congress to legislate a path to citizenship.

The Biden administration unveiled a new rule on Wednesday intended to codify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA program. President Barack Obama implemented DACA in 2012 as an executive order, allowing eligible young adults who came to the U.S. as children to work and study without fear of deportation.

DACA has been around for a decade but has been closed to new registrants since July 2021 while a lawsuit filed by Texas and other Republican-led states makes its way through the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Former President Donald Trump tried to shut down the program but was blocked by the Supreme Court.

The new rule on DACA isn’t scheduled to take effect until Oct. 31. There is little change from the 2012 memo that created DACA, but it’s intended to improve its chances of surviving legal battles.

Immigration advocates from several national organizations were disappointed the new rule does not extend DACA to more immigrants. Under DACA, applicants must have arrived in the U.S. by the age of 16 before June 2007.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/daca-biden-rule-immigration-congress-rcna44868

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