All information relevant to DACA decision ordered to be made public

Politico has reported that on Tuesday, October 17^th, 2017, a federal judge ordered the Trump Administration to make public any and all documentation pertaining to its action to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA).  This order extends to legal advice about ending the program.

The judge claims to have issued this ruling on the grounds that the administration waived its attorney-client privilege when it stated that its decisions were made because the program is unconstitutional.  Attorney General Jess Sessions said in a one-page statement regarding DACA that the program represented an overextension of authority on part of the executive branch.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco says that plaintiffs have a right to challenge the decision to rescind DACA.  In order for this to be possible, legal research and internal analyses leading up to the decision must be disclosed.  This ruling has come about as a result of five separate lawsuits being filed in response to the end of DACA.  Janet Napolitano, former DHS Secretary who now sits as president of the University of California, has brought one of those lawsuits.  The plaintiffs have requested that all documentation related to the termination of DACA be handed over.

Summary of the statement of the order

The order begins by explaining that DACA provided deferred action for individuals lacking lawful immigration status who arrived in America as children.  They also needed to meet several other qualifications, such as having obtained a general education degree (GED) or high school diploma, been living in the United States for a minimum of five years, served in the military, or a number of other factors.

A brief history of administrative actions and court decisions in the recent past regarding DACA is then given.  Elaine Duke, Acting Secretary of the DHS, declared DACA would be ended as of March 5^th, 2018.  The five lawsuits on file challenge this decision.  The claims are intended to reach a decision before March 5^th.

The plaintiffs filed for a collection of documents pertaining to the administrative record as of October 6^th.  This included fourteen documents totaling 256 pages.  These documents were already public.

Now the plaintiffs demand the fullness of the administrative record in accordance with Section 706 of Title 5 of the United States Code.  They allege the record they have obtained to be incomplete due to the fact that it only includes documents considered directly by the Acting Secretary.  Documents that may have indirectly led to the rescinding of DACA were not included.

The defendants in the case, who are listed as the United States Department of Homeland Security and Elain Duke, argue that the record they have provided constitutes the totality of relevant and appropriate documentation.  In their view, the information should be limited to unprivileged documents that directly affected the decision of the Acting Secretary.

The full text of the 14-page order can be found here.

For questions about this order, general information about DACA, or any other immigration-related inquiries, contact our office today.

 

Sources:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2017/10/17/judge-dreamers-immigrants-legal-advice-243889

http://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000015f-2c74-dd97-abdf-ad7fccd20002

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