Expert: DACA Affected By Congressional Gridlock

Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News, Jan. 1, 2023

"Nine Republican-controlled states asked a federal judge in Texas on Tuesday to shut down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in its entirety over two years, a move that would prevent nearly 600,000 immigrants known as "Dreamers" from renewing their deportation protections and work permits. The request from the coalition of states led by Texas represents the most pressing legal threat facing the Obama-era DACA program, which has continued to this day, although in a limited way, despite the years-old lawsuit challenging its legality and former President Donald Trump's attempts to dismantle it. ... The prospect of DACA's demise could reignite discussions in Congress about legalizing those enrolled in the program, a proposal with broad bipartisan support among Americans. But efforts in Congress to pass such a proposal have collapsed repeatedly since 2001 amid broader partisan differences on U.S. immigration policy. "Unfortunately, our Congress has been polarized and unable to pass any major immigration reform legislation — and I think that's unlikely to happen in 2023," said Steve Yale-Loehr, a Cornell University professor who studies the U.S. immigration system. Yale-Loehr said the only way he sees the new Congress offering DACA beneficiaries permanent legal status is as part of a broader deal that includes measures limiting asylum along the U.S.-Mexico border to address concerns from Republican lawmakers, who hold a slim majority in the House."