ACLU Wins Protections for DACA Recipients Unlawfully Targeted by Trump Administration

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge ruled last night in favor of three young immigrants and a class of others like them who have had their Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status unlawfully revoked by the Trump administration.

“This ruling is a critical victory for young immigrants and their families across the United States. The court’s order ensures that Dreamers won’t have their ability to live and work in the country they call home taken from them arbitrarily,” said Katrina Eiland, American Civil Liberties Union staff attorney.

The court certified a nationwide class and issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the administration from terminating class members’ DACA grants and work permits without notice, an explanation, or an opportunity to respond. The court also reinstated the DACA grants and work permits of class members who have already had them unlawfully revoked by the government.

“This victory is just one step in ensuring that young immigrants are protected in the United States,” said Andrés Dae Keun Kwon, Equal Justice Works Emerson fellow at the ACLU of Southern California. “Congress and President Trump must protect Dreamers with a permanent solution so that they can continue living and working here without the fear of deportation.”

In IEIYC & Arreola v. Nielsen, which was brought by the ACLU and the ACLU of Southern California, the court found that the Department of Homeland Security has engaged in a practice of arbitrarily terminating immigrants’ DACA grants and work permits based on unproven allegations or low-level offenses that do not disqualify the individual from the program.

The court held that by terminating their status in these cases without any advance notice, any chance to fight the government’s actions, or any opportunity to reinstate DACA when an individual is cleared of the allegations, DHS violated the federal Administrative Procedures Act.

More information on the case is available here:
https://www.aclu.org/cases/inland-empire-immigrant-youth-collective-v-nielsen