Attorney General Ken Paxton today voluntarily dismissed a 2015 lawsuit against the federal government after the Trump administration phased out the unlawful Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA granted lawful presence and work permits to nearly one million unlawfully present aliens without congressional authorization.
On June 29, a 10-state coalition, led by Attorney General Paxton, informed the Trump administration it had until today to phase out DACA or it would amend the existing federal lawsuit which had challenged the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) program.
“We dismissed our lawsuit after achieving victory on DACA and DAPA. Both programs originated from Obama-era executive action creating far-reaching, class-based ‘deferred action’ programs and granting lawful presence and attendant benefits to qualifying applicants, without congressional authorization,” Attorney General Paxton said. “Our lawsuit was always about the rule of law, not the wisdom of any particular immigration policy.”
Previously, Attorney General Paxton led a 26-state coalition all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the prior administration’s DAPA program.