New York Undocumented Youth File Lawsuit Challenging Wolf’s DACA Memo

NEW YORK — Immigrant youth New Yorkers today filed a legal challenge to the Trump administration’s latest attempt to dismantle Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The filing in federal court challenges the administration’s July 28, 2020, memo, arguing that the memo unlawfully and drastically altered the program and that it was issued without authority by the purported acting secretary of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf. The new challenge amends an existing lawsuit, Batalla Vidal v. Wolf, which culminated in a U.S. Supreme Court victory for immigrant youth in June. This is the first legal challenge to the entire Wolf memo.

“For a second time, the Trump administration has robbed me of the opportunity to apply for DACA. After coming within days of applying for DACA in 2017, I was hopeful after the Supreme Court decision in June that I would finally be able to access DACA — and get a stable job, provide for my family, and breathe a sigh of relief knowing I wouldn’t be at risk of being separated from my children,” said Johana Larios, a DACA-eligible individual who applied for DACA before July 28 but whose application will not be processed under the new memo, and a member of Make the Road New York. “Just like me, there are thousands of other youth who are stuck in the same situation, and that is why I decided to join this lawsuit. We’re ready to fight for DACA because our home is here.”

Larios is one of four new individual plaintiffs harmed by the administration’s latest actions on DACA who are joining the lawsuit. The new plaintiffs also include Ximena Zamora, a member of Make the Road New York who qualifies for DACA but is unable to apply under the new memo; M.B.F., a DACA applicant who submitted her application prior to the new DACA memo but who, like Ms. Larios, will now not be considered for the program; and Sonia Molina, a current DACA recipient whose renewal application is pending and is now subjected to a one-year renewal. They join plaintiffs Make the Road New York and members Martín Batalla Vidal, Antonio Alarcón, Eliana Fernandez, Carolina Fung Feng, and Carlos Vargas.

“For the past three years, the Trump administration has continuously attacked DACA, leaving immigrant youth like me at risk of being separated from our loved ones,” said Sonia Molina, DACA recipient and member of Make the Road New York. “DACA opened the doors to many opportunities. I have been able to finish college, help support my family, and give back to my community, even if just in two-year increments. The recent DACA memo is a direct attack on me and thousands of DACA recipients and DACA-eligible youth. We urge USCIS to reopen DACA to new applications, and fully reinstate renewals to a two-year period.”

The July 28 memo directed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to reject all first-time DACA applications, reject all requests by DACA recipients for permission to travel outside the U.S. through advance parole except in extremely narrow circumstances, and shorten renewals and work authorization from two years to only one year. The memo applies both to future applications and applications filed with USCIS before it was issued, including from new applicants who requested DACA after the Supreme Court decision in June 2020 should have resulted in the program being reopened.

“Immigrant youth won a monumental victory at the Supreme Court, but the Trump administration insists on trying to lawlessly dismantle and end DACA,” said Javier. H. Valdés, co-executive director of Make the Road New York. “Trump’s latest attack is an imminent threat to thousands of eligible immigrant youth who are being denied the opportunity to apply for DACA for the first time, and threatens the livelihood of hundreds of thousands who have been safeguarded under the DACA program. For the past three years, we have fiercely fought alongside immigrant youth and we will continue to do so every step of the way.”

The plaintiffs — represented by Make the Road New York, the National Immigration Law Center, and the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School — are asking the court to invalidate the July 28 memo and require the government to process first-time DACA applications, advance parole requests, and renewals under the terms of the original DACA program.

“These abhorrent and unlawful attacks on DACA show the extent to which the Trump administration is willing to ignore the Constitution and the laws governing federal agencies in order to inflict harm on immigrant communities,” said Camila Bustos, a law student intern in the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School. “Our clients defeated the administration last time, and they’ll do it again.”

Over the past eight years, DACA has opened opportunities for nearly 800,000 immigrant youth to work, attend school, better support their families, and make even greater contributions to their communities. As a result of the Trump administration’s unlawful attacks on DACA, an estimated 300,000 eligible immigrant youth have been denied the opportunity to apply for it.

“The July 28 Wolf memo was another cruel and divisive move that unlawfully upends the lives of more than a million immigrant youth while Trump continues to dismantle DACA,” said Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center. “With our courageous plaintiffs and co-counsel, we continue fighting back. We remain steadfast in our commitment to ensure that the Trump administration is accountable to the law and immigrant youth remain safe and have the freedom to thrive here at home.”

Today’s filing is available here.

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Federal Court Greenlights New DACA Challenge

NEW YORK — Today, a federal court in Brooklyn approved a request from Make the Road New York and immigrant youth with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to sue the Trump administration over its newest attempt to end DACA.

At a court hearing earlier today, plaintiffs in Batalla Vidal v. Wolf explained that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) July 28, 2020, memo, which drastically altered DACA, suffers from several legal and constitutional defects. Not only did the Trump administration once again sidestep the procedures required to take such an action, but it also stripped DACA applicants of their due process rights. Moreover, plaintiffs questioned the authority of Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf to alter the DACA program in the first place, since he is not serving lawfully in his position.

The court granted the plaintiffs’ request to file an amended complaint challenging the new DACA memo in the coming weeks. The court also indicated that the parties should quickly move forward with additional briefing and ordered the parties to come back to the court by next week with a proposed schedule. The court granted a similar request from 16 states and the District of Columbia.

“We applaud the judge’s decision to allow our amended complaint to challenge Trump’s latest reckless effort to end DACA,” said Javier H. Valdés, co-executive director of Make the Road New York. “The Trump administration’s refusal to comply with the Supreme Court decision and to fully restore DACA — places hundreds of thousands of immigrant youth at risk of deportation and denies new applicants an opportunity for temporary but life-altering relief. For the last three years, we have fought against Trump’s cruel attacks on undocumented youth, and we are ready to continue to fight tooth and nail to defend and protect immigrant youth and all immigrants.”

Batalla Vidal v. Wolf was the first legal challenge to President Trump’s 2017 termination of DACA. That case — in which the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), Make the Road New York (MRNY), and the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic (WIRAC) at Yale Law School represent six DACA recipients and MRNY — culminated in a monumental victory at the U.S. Supreme Court in June, in which the Supreme Court held that the Trump administration violated federal law by improperly terminating DACA in 2017.

“The Trump administration’s newest attack on DACA is as unlawful as its first,” said Armando Ghinaglia, law student intern in the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School, who argued for the plaintiffs today in court and who himself has been a DACA recipient. “By issuing this memo so haphazardly, the Trump administration sidestepped its legal and constitutional obligations. Our plaintiffs won’t let that stand.

Under the July 28 DHS memo, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will reject all first-time DACA applications. While USCIS will continue to process DACA renewal applications, renewals and work authorization will be granted only for one year at a time instead of for two years. While the per-application fee remains the same, the change effectively doubles the fee for DACA renewals.

“We’ve been fighting Trump’s unlawful attempts to dismantle DACA from the beginning, and our fight continues,” said Araceli Martínez-Olguín, supervising attorney at the National Immigration Law Center. “As Trump doubles down on his efforts to harm immigrant youth and immigrant communities, even in the middle of a public health and economic crisis, we remain steadfast to ensure that immigrant youth are secure here at home. We’ll keep fighting alongside our plaintiffs and communities to stop Trump’s harmful, divisive, and hateful actions.”

Over the past eight years, more than 700,000 immigrant youth have been able to use DACA to work, attend school, better support their families, and make even greater contributions to their communities. As a result of the Trump administration’s unlawful attacks on DACA, an estimated 300,000 eligible immigrant youth have been denied the opportunity to apply for it.

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