Washington, Dec 5: Reversing the decision of the outgoing Trump administration, a federal court has ordered full reinstatement of an Obama-era programme that protects undocumented immigrants brought to the US as minors from deportation, a ruling that will help a large number of Indian migrants.
The Trump administration tried ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in 2017, but the US Supreme Court blocked its attempt in June. On Friday, US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in the Eastern District of New York directed the Department of Homeland Security to extend the two-year renewals to DACA recipients and start accepting applications from first-time applicants beginning Monday.
This means that the first time since September 2017, new applicants who were not previously eligible may now apply for the programme which shield undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children from deportation.
“The court believes that these additional remedies are reasonable. Indeed, the government has assured the court that a public notice along the lines described is forthcoming,” Judge Garaufis said in his order.
The DACA is an immigration policy that allows some individuals with unlawful presence in the US after being brought to the country as children to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and become eligible for a work permit in the US.
DACA recipients are often referred to as Dreamers. To be eligible for the programme, recipients cannot have felonies or serious misdemeanours on their records. Approximately 640,000 immigrants are enrolled in the DACA programme. (PTI)
