WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initiated the orderly
wind down of the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
“This Administration’s decision to terminate DACA was not taken lightly. The Department of
Justice has carefully evaluated the program’s Constitutionality and determined it conflicts with
our existing immigration laws,” said Acting Secretary Elaine Duke. “As a result of recent
litigation, we were faced with two options: wind the program down in an orderly fashion that
protects beneficiaries in the near-term while working with Congress to pass legislation; or allow
the judiciary to potentially shut the program down completely and immediately. We chose the
least disruptive option.
“With the measures the Department is putting in place today, no current beneficiaries will be
impacted before March 5, 2018, nearly six months from now, so Congress can have time to
deliver on appropriate legislative solutions. However, I want to be clear that no new initial
requests or associated applications filed after today will be acted on.”
On June 29, the attorneys general of Texas and several other states sent a letter to U.S. Attorney
General Jeff Sessions asserting that the DACA program is unlawful for the same reasons stated
in the Fifth Circuit and district court opinions regarding an expansion of the DACA program and
the now-rescinded program known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful
Permanent Residents (DAPA). The letter noted that if DHS did not rescind the June 2012 DACA
memo by September 5, 2017, the states would seek to amend the DAPA lawsuit to include a
challenge to DACA.
Yesterday, Attorney General Sessions sent a letter to Acting Secretary Duke articulating his legal
determination that DACA “was effectuated by the previous administration through executive
action, without proper statutory authority and with no established end-date, after Congress’
repeated rejection of proposed legislation that would have accomplished a similar result. Such an
open-ended circumvention of immigration laws was an unconstitutional exercise of authority by
the Executive Branch.” The letter further stated that because DACA “has the same legal and
constitutional defects that the courts recognized as to DAPA, it is likely that potentially
imminent litigation would yield similar results with respect to DACA.” Nevertheless, in light of
the administrative complexities associated with ending the program, he recommended that the
Department wind down the program in an efficient and orderly fashion, and his office has
reviewed the terms on which the Department will do so.
Based on guidance from Attorney General Sessions, and the likely result of potentially imminent
litigation, Acting Secretary Elaine Duke today issued a memo formally rescinding the June 15,
2012 memorandum that created DACA, and initiating an orderly wind down of the program.
This process will limit disruption to current DACA beneficiaries while providing time for
Congress to seek a legislative solution. The details are contained in Acting Secretary Duke’s
September 5 memorandum, and in our Frequently Asked Questions.