Attorney General Ken Paxton today asked a U.S. District Court for a nationwide injunction to stop the federal government from issuing or renewing any additional permits under the unlawful Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program while Texas’ multistate coalition lawsuit is pending and to ultimately set the program aside as unconstitutional.

In May, Attorney General Paxton led a coalition that now represents 10 states in a lawsuit against the federal government to end DACA, which granted lawful presence and work permits to nearly one million unlawfully present aliens without any authority from Congress. The lawsuit is forward looking and does not ask the federal government to remove any alien currently covered by DACA, nor does it ask the Trump administration to rescind DACA permits that have already been issued.

“DACA is unconstitutional because it rewrote federal law over the objections of Congress,” Attorney General Paxton said. “DACA represents a dangerous view of executive power, which would allow the president to unilaterally set aside any duly enacted law.  It cannot be allowed to stand without doing serious harm to our Constitution. This lawsuit is vital to restoring the rule of law to our immigration system.”

During today’s district court hearing, lawyers from the attorney general’s office argued that DACA is as legally flawed as the Obama-era Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) program, which was intended to grant lawful presence to more than four million unlawfully present aliens. Attorney General Paxton led a successful 26-state coalition all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to stop DAPA.

Last September, President Trump agreed to phase out DACA by March 5 of this year after Attorney General Paxton led a 10-state coalition requesting he do so or face a court challenge. But a ruling this year by a U.S. District Court in California blocked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from cancelling DACA. Similar decisions were issued by district courts in New York and Washington, D.C.

Texas is joined in the DACA lawsuit by the attorneys general of Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia, along with the governors of Maine and Mississippi.

View a copy of the lawsuit here: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/files/epress/File-Stamped_Complaint.pdf

View a copy of the motion seeking a nationwide injunction here: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/files/epress/Mt_for_PI.pdf

View a copy of a response brief filed on August 3, 2018 here: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/files/epress/Post-Discovery-ResponseBrief.pdf