DACA updates

A Federal Judge in Texas temporarily blocked President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration, which drew opposition from 26 states across the nation.The United States District Judge Andrew Hanen ruled on February 16, 2015 to block the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program (DAPA) executive actions that Obama announced late last year to shield as many as 4.4 million undocumented immigrants from deportation.

The federal government quickly filed an appeal in the Fifth Circuit Court with an emergency motion asking for a stay on an injunction. The appeals court set a hearing for the matter on April 17, 2015 but on May 26, 2015 a split federal appeals court handed another legal setback by holding that the injunction should remain in effect while the merits are decided because the states have made a compelling case that they would suffer harm if the executive actions went into effect.
Presently, the Obama administration decided to focus on the substantive appeal of the injunction with the Fifth Circuit before taking it to the US Supreme Court. Oral arguments are set to begin in the week of July 6. A new Fifth Circuit panel of judges may hear that case.
It is unclear when DAPA applications would be accepted.

The initiatives under the Executive Order of November 20, 2014 that are currently on hold include:

In the meantime, individuals who may be eligible for DAPA or DACA should continue to gather documents necessary to show they meet the respectivecriteria, review and investigate past criminal and immigration records, and save money for the $465.00 application fee. The federal government anticipates that the court will ultimately uphold the legality of the executive actions and DHS will continue to prepare for a timely implementation of the programs as soon as that happens.

However, the initiatives of the Executive Order of November 20, 2014 that ARE NOT on hold, include but are not limited the following:

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