Oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court was held yesterday concerning DAPA and Expanded DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). There is promise that the U.S. Supreme Court will allow DAPA to proceed and reject the injunction issued in against the U.S. government in the Texas suit (United States v Texas).

The initial question is whether Texas has the right to file a lawsuit against the Federal Government. Texas complains that it is harmed by DAPA because it must issue driver’s licenses to illegal foreigners of the U.S. who reside in Texas.

The U.S. Attorney General argued that Texas is not presently harmed because it can try and change it’s law to limit those who receive driver’s licenses. Essentially, it’s premature to decide whether Texas has been harmed because Texas has choices it can make regarding its own laws to deal with DAPA recipients. Any changes by Texas will likely result in another lawsuit, but that eventuality depends on what Texas does, so it’s a suit for another day, not now.

Separately, the U.S. government has a long standing history of prioritizing who is deported from the U.S. DAPA recipients are the lowest priority as compared to others here illegally. The U.S. government also has a longstanding history of issuing immigration benefits such as work authorization to those who are not yet in lawful status in the U.S. Examples include those applying for green cards or seeking asylum.

If the U.S. Supreme Court terminates DAPA, it will likely do so in the next few weeks. If DAPA is upheld, it’s likely we will receive word from the Supreme Court by the end of June. If approved, it will take time for the justices to agree on a strategy and issue an opinion.

You are welcome to contact me if you like to discuss further.