Texas v. USA (TX DACA) - Court of Appeals II

This is an appeal of a district court decision granting the request by Texas and eight other states to permanently enjoin (block) the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.  DACA was created in 2012 by the Obama Administration, and it permits certain immigrants brought to the United States as children to apply, on a case-by-case basis, for temporary work authorization and relief from deportation.

On September 13, 2023, after briefing and oral argument in the district court, Judge Hanen issued an opinion holding that the DACA regulation (also known as a “rule”) issued by the Biden Administration in August 2022 suffers from the same legal infirmities as the prior version of DACA, which was based on an agency memorandum. Judge Hanen did not change the status quo: the approximately 580,000 individuals with DACA can continue to renew for the time being, but the federal government is prohibited from granting any new applications. In early November 2023, the federal government and the other defendants appealed Hanen’s decision and injunction to the Fifth Circuit.

The appeal was fully briefed as of the end of May 2024. The Fifth Circuit heard oral argument on October 10, 2024 in New Orleans. 

On January 17, 2025, the Fifth Circuit issued a decision that affirmed Judge Hanen’s conclusion that the part of DACA that provides employment authorization is unlawful. The Fifth Circuit, however, disagreed with the injunction of DACA that Judge Hanen issued, holding that it should be narrowed in two ways: first, it should be limited to blocking DACA only in Texas, since no other state tried to prove standing; and two, it should cover only the part of DACA concerning work authorization, and not block DACA’s "forbearance" policy, under which DACA recipients are not deported. The Fifth Circuit opinion also maintained the stay (pause) of the injunction for current DACA recipients. The Fifth Circuit’s opinion went into effect when its mandate issued on March 11, 2025.