Attorney General Josh Kaul has joined a coalition of 23 attorneys general in urging the Appeals Court to reverse the decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The coalition filed an amicus brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, arguing that the DACA program is authorized by law and should be upheld.
The DACA program has been a resounding success, according to Attorney General Kaul. He emphasizes the importance of protecting Dreamers and ensuring that any court-imposed changes have limited impact on them and their communities.
Since its inception in 2012, DACA has provided protections to over 825,000 young immigrants who have passed background checks and completed applications. These DACA recipients, known as Dreamers, have made significant contributions to our society. They have enrolled in colleges and universities, started businesses, served in the military, and worked as teachers, medical professionals, engineers, and entrepreneurs. Their contributions have become even more evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, as many DACA recipients have served as essential workers and frontline healthcare professionals.
The economic impact of DACA recipients cannot be ignored. They and their households contribute approximately $9.5 billion in federal, state, and local taxes annually. A full rollback of DACA would result in an estimated loss of $280 billion in national economic growth over a decade. It would also lead to a loss of $33.1 billion in Social Security contributions and $7.7 billion in Medicare contributions. Additionally, DACA recipients contribute $25.3 billion annually to the overall economic health of the nation through their spending power, homeownership, mortgage payments, and support for small businesses and job creation.
The case before the Fifth Circuit arose from a lawsuit brought by Texas and eight other states seeking to end the DACA program entirely. In 2022, the Fifth Circuit upheld a decision that deemed the executive memorandum creating DACA unlawful. However, the case was sent back to the lower court to consider the validity of a new regulation that codified the policy. In 2023, the Southern District of Texas once again declared the program unlawful.
Attorney General Kaul and the coalition of attorneys general support the argument that DACA is a lawful exercise of executive branch authority and does not violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). They also argue that the district court should not have vacated DACA entirely but rather severed any portions deemed unlawful. The amicus brief also highlights the lack of time given to the Department of Homeland Security and Congress to implement remedial actions to address the court's legal conclusions. Moreover, the brief emphasizes the numerous ways in which state and local governments benefit from and rely on the existence of the DACA program.
The attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia have also joined Attorney General Kaul in filing the amicus brief.
It is clear that Attorney General Kaul and the coalition of attorneys general are committed to protecting Dreamers and preserving the DACA program. Their efforts aim to ensure that Dreamers can continue to live, study, and work across the United States without the fear of being forcibly separated from their families and communities.