Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents ( DAPA ), sometimes called Deferred Action for Parental Accountability , was a planned United States immigration policy to grant deferred action status to certain undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States since 2010 and have children who are either American citizens or lawful permanent residents . It was prevented from going into effect. Deferred action would not be legal status but would come with a three-year renewable employment authorization document ( work permit ) and exemption from deportation . DAPA was a presidential executive action, not a law passed by Congress.
42-407: DAPA is Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, a planned United States immigration policy announced in 2014. DAPA or Dapa may refer to: DAPA The program was announced on November 20, 2014 by President Barack Obama , along with a number of immigration reform steps including increased resources for border enforcement, new procedures for high-skilled immigrants, and an expansion of
84-677: A U.S. Supreme Court 4–4 split decision on June 23, 2016 effectively left the block in place. On June 15, 2017, the Trump administration announced the rescission of the DAPA order. On June 27, 2013, the U.S. Senate's Gang of Eight passed their comprehensive immigration reform bill in the Senate. When pressed to take unilateral executive action to limit deportations on Univision in March 2014, President Barack Obama replied "until Congress passes
126-685: A United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas . Hanen was born on December 10, 1953, in Elgin , Illinois and raised in Waco , Texas . He received a Bachelor of Arts , with honors, from Denison University in 1975, majoring in economics and political science . He received his Juris Doctor from Baylor Law School in 1978. Hanen began his legal career as
168-515: A briefing attorney to Joe R. Greenhill , chief justice of the Supreme Court of Texas , from 1978 to 1979. He then worked in private practice in Houston from 1979 to 2002. In 1992, Hanen was nominated by then-President George H. W. Bush to be a United States district judge , but the nomination lapsed. On January 23, 2002, he was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on
210-634: A dozen lawsuits brought by Texas Republicans to block expanded voter access. In October, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott had limited every county to a single drop site for mailed votes, forcing Harris County to close 11 additional sites and voters to drive several hours to drop off their ballots. Republicans also successfully sued to block Harris County from mailing ballots to all those eligible unless they requested them. Hollins had previously said that drive-through voting would continue on election day at 10 sites, in addition to in-person voting at more than 800 polling places. More than 1 million registered voters in
252-483: A dozen lawsuits brought by Texas Republicans to block expanded voter access. In November, Republican Governor Greg Abbott limited every county to a single drop site for mailed votes. That forced the county to have to close eleven other sites and caused some voters to need to drive many hours to drop their ballots off. Republicans also had successfully sued to stop Harris County from mailing ballots to every eligible voter in lieu of requests for such ballots. Hanen's decision
294-444: A drive-thru out of my concern whether that's legal or not." He ordered Harris County to retain and segregate records of any drive-thru ballots cast on Election Day because of the possibility of future legal challenges. Hollins chose to close nine of Harris County's 10 drive-thru voting sites on Election Day. He said, "I cannot in good faith encourage voters to cast their votes in tents if that puts their votes at risk." Hanen's decision
336-576: A filing in the district court that Hanen's ordered sanctions "exceed the scope of [the court's] authority and unjustifiably impose irreparable injury on the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and thousands of innocent third parties." The Justice Department also argued that additional ethics courses could cost up to $ 7.8 million over five years. On June 7, 2016, Hanen stayed his order requiring ethics courses for federal attorneys and requiring U.S. immigration officials to turn over
378-419: A million registered voters in the county still had not cast ballots, he said, adding that Republicans had filed almost a dozen lawsuits to constrict the intended expanded ability to exercise the franchise. "They will have the same access to the polls that their neighbors have had," Hollins said. "We're proud to be upholding democracy at a time when it is under attack." He said the case was just the latest in nearly
420-473: A new law, then I am constrained in terms of what I am able to do." On June 9, 2014, House Whip Kevin McCarthy announced that House Republicans had enough votes to pass the bill. However, the next day House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his primary election, so on June 30, Speaker John Boehner announced that he would not bring the bill to a vote. That same day, President Obama delivered remarks in
462-648: A preliminary injunction blocking the DAPA program from going into effect while the lawsuit proceeds. The Obama Administration appealed the order for a preliminary injunction and asked the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans to stay the district court's injunction pending appeal. On May 26, 2015, the administration's motion for a stay was denied by a three member motions panel with one dissent, meaning that
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#1732797970327504-601: The Texas Legislature . Democrats countered that his request would disenfranchise all voters who had previously cast drive-thru votes in good faith. Hanen dismissed the Republicans' lawsuit, stating they needed to prove the existence of an "evil motive" to have the ballots thrown out and he said they failed to do so. Hanen also ruled that the plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit lacked standing and that drive-through voting could proceed on election day, but because
546-606: The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas vacated by Filemon Vela, Sr. , who assumed senior status . Hanen was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 9, 2002, by a 97–0 vote. He received his commission on May 10, 2002. Hanen maintained chambers in Brownsville, Texas from 2002 until 2018, when he relocated to Houston, also within the Southern District. During
588-560: The White House Rose Garden promising to "fix as much of our immigration system as I can on my own, without Congress." Over the next eight months the Obama Administration went through sixty iterations of different possible executive actions. Finally, on November 20, 2014, President Obama delivered a primetime televised address to the nation announcing DAPA. The Office of Legal Counsel advised that
630-605: The Harris County Clerk, filed by Texas state representative Steve Toth and a group of Texas Republican candidates who sought to invalidate about 127,000 drive-thru votes in Harris County, Texas . Toth said Harris County exceeded its state constitutional authority by allowing drive-thru voting as an alternative to walk-in voting during the COVID-19 pandemic , a change Toth argued could be determined solely by
672-668: The United States are potentially eligible for DAPA, around 766,000 in just five counties : Los Angeles and Orange in California, Harris and Dallas in Texas, and Cook in Illinois. The President's program, when combined with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals , would have delayed deportation of slightly less than half of the 11 million people in the United States who are undocumented. More than 10 million people in
714-690: The United States for 10 years or more. Over half of the undocumented population eligible for the President's delayed deportation live in California , Texas , and New York . On December 3, 2014, Texas and 25 other states, all with Republican governors, sued in the District Court for the Southern District of Texas asking the court to enjoin implementation of both DAPA and the DACA expansion. On February 16, 2015, Judge Andrew S. Hanen issued
756-491: The United States reside in a household with at least one adult who would have been eligible for DAPA, with two thirds of those adults having lived in the United States for 10 years or more. Over half of undocumented residents eligible for the President's delayed deportation live in California , Texas , and New York . The program was challenged in federal court by 26 states. Of the 3.6 million undocumented parents eligible for DAPA, 2.2 million reside in states that did not join
798-616: The case by waiving its right to file a reply brief. On January 19, 2016 the Supreme Court agreed to review the case. The Court took the unusual step of asking for briefing on the new constitutional question of whether DAPA violates the Take Care Clause . On June 23, 2016, the Supreme Court announced it had deadlocked 4–4 in a decision that read, in its entirety, "The judgement is affirmed by an equally divided court." The ruling set no precedent and simply leaves in place
840-528: The case non- justiciable , and that there had been "no justification" for the circuit court's delay in ruling. On November 10, 2015, the Justice Department announced it would ask the Supreme Court to reverse. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton attempted to prolong consideration of the case until the next October term but the Supreme Court only granted him an eight-day extension to file his opposition brief. The Justice Department further hastened
882-433: The case. Hanen accused Justice Department's lawyers of lying to him during arguments in the case, and barred them from appearing in his courtroom. He accused the department of "a calculated plan of unethical conduct". Hanen further ordered Attorney General Loretta Lynch to appoint someone within the department to ensure compliance with his order. Hanen also ordered U.S. immigration officials to turn over, within weeks,
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#1732797970327924-532: The citizens of the United States that it is enforcing our border security laws because it is not. Even worse, it is helping those who violate these laws." In February 2015, Hanen granted the State of Texas's motion for a nationwide preliminary injunction barring President Barack Obama from carrying out the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) program. In United States v. Texas , that ruling
966-471: The county had yet to vote. After Hanen's decision, he kept the Toyota Center arena site open, since it comported with existing law. Regarding election day voting, as a result of the court rejecting the claim, "They will have the same access to the polls that their neighbors have had." "…We're proud to be upholding democracy at a time when it is under attack." He noted the case was the latest in nearly
1008-579: The district court that Texas has standing because of the cost of issuing drivers licenses to undocumented residents, and that President Obama's order violated the rulemaking requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act . The majority made a new finding that the Immigration and Nationality Act "flatly does not permit" deferred action . Judge Carolyn Dineen King dissented, arguing that prosecutorial discretion makes
1050-491: The existing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Several U.S. states filed lawsuits against the federal government on December 3, 2014, arguing that DAPA violates the Constitution and federal statutes. A temporary injunction was issued on February 16, 2015, blocking the program from going into effect while the lawsuit proceeds. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed on November 9, 2015, and
1092-485: The federal courthouse in downtown Houston. Hollins said the county's staff of 11,000 election workers were ready to count the early drive-through votes. Republicans requested that the courts stop the county from tabulating the votes until after the resolution of their claims. Before the decision, Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins said that drive-through voting would continue on election day at 10 sites, in addition to in-person voting at more than 800 polling places. More than
1134-533: The government could not implement DAPA until the Fifth Circuit ruled on the appeal of the injunction order itself. That ruling came on November 9, 2015, with a three-member panel of the Fifth Circuit affirming the district court's preliminary injunction, with one dissent. The divided circuit court affirmed the preliminary injunction and ordered the case back to the district court for trial. Judge Jerry Edwin Smith , joined by Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod agreed with
1176-433: The government from processing new applications for the program. He declined the request, from the states challenging DACA, to order that the program be ended within two years. Two days before a decision was rendered in this case, Slate Magazine had described him as "one of the most notoriously partisan conservatives in the federal judiciary." On November 2, 2020, Hanen heard a suit against officeholder Chris Hollins ,
1218-433: The lawsuit. A 2016 study of the impact of DACA on labor market outcomes for immigrants found that if the same effects apply to DAPA as DACA, then DAPA could potentially move over 250,000 unauthorized immigrants into employment. If DAPA had been implemented, a person would have been eligible if the person: Andrew S. Hanen Andrew Scott Hanen (born December 10, 1953) is an American attorney and jurist serving as
1260-542: The lower court's preliminary injunction blocking the program. Although initially believed that the case could reach the Supreme Court again after Judge Hanen has held a trial, such hopes were dashed by President Trump's rescission of the DACA memo and the subsequent voluntary dismissal by Plaintiffs in the underlying district court action. On January 15, 2015, the Migration Policy Institute estimated that about 3.7 million unauthorized immigrants in
1302-540: The names and addresses of 50,000 people who received deferral under the expanded deferred action initiative. The National Immigration Law Center , the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Immigrants' Rights Project, and the ACLU of Texas petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to vacate the order or postpone the deadline. Separately, the Justice Department argued in
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1344-406: The names and addresses until August 22, 2016. On January 19, 2017, Hanen withdrew the sanctions in the order issued on May 19, 2016, as well as his demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) turn over personal information of 50,000 DACA recipients, stating: "This Court finds upon [DOJ's] newly filed evidence, that the statements in question, though repeated on multiple occasions, were not
1386-452: The parents of a U.S. citizens or lawful permanent resident . The President's program, when combined with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals , would have delayed deportation of slightly less than half of the 11 million undocumented people in the United States. More than 10 million people in the United States reside in a household with at least one adult who would have been eligible for DAPA, with two thirds of those adults having lived in
1428-557: The product of a bad faith intent to deceive the Court or that they were made with malice." On July 16, 2021, Hanen ruled that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was unconstitutional, and provisionally blocked approvals of all new applications nationwide while allowing the receipt of such new applications. The ruling did not immediately cancel the protected status of existing recipients. On January 28, 2022, Hanen blocked enforcement of Texas's anti-BDS law . The case
1470-413: The program was constitutional, finding it was similar to President George H. W. Bush 's 1990 " Family Fairness " program. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson then released two memorandums directing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to make undocumented individuals without criminal histories the lowest priority for removal, and to grant deferred action to undocumented immigrants who are
1512-603: The sentencing of a convicted child smuggler in December 2013, Hanen sharply criticized the United States Department of Homeland Security in an opinion that "veered far from the matter at hand" and "that quickly won rave reviews on right-wing news sites." Not only did he criticize the policy of reuniting children with their illegal immigrant mothers, he further rebuked the department for not prosecuting this child's mother. Hanen wrote, "DHS should cease telling
1554-436: The statute allowed for casting votes in "buildings," and he ruled that tent voting could not be included. Hanen's judgment retained the validity of the early drive-up votes that had been cast prior to his decision. It did not dismiss the possibility of whether those drive-thru sites comported with the state's election law. It did not preclude votes cast subsequent to his decision from being challenged, saying, "I would not vote in
1596-713: Was affirmed by an equally divided Supreme Court of the United States on June 23, 2016 (with an eight-member bench due to the death of Justice Antonin Scalia ). Hanen made national news for related assertions and sanctions which were later withdrawn. On May 19, 2016, while the case was awaiting a decision at the Supreme Court, Hanen demanded that some 3,000 Department of Justice lawyers in 26 states take ethics classes, and ordered other sanctions for those who argued Texas v. United States , involving President Obama's immigration executive actions. Hanen did not explain why he extended his sanctions to attorneys who had no involvement in
1638-473: Was appealed by Republicans to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals . At stake in the legal contest over drive-through voting sites were almost 9% of all the votes cast in the third-most populous county in the U.S. The effort by Hollins that re-opened drive-through voting sites this year was intended to address safety issues resulting from the pandemic. Republicans who sued argued drive-through voting
1680-699: Was appealed by the Republican plaintiffs to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit , but their appeal was rejected. Republican activist Steve Hotze and three Republican candidates sued the Clerk, Hollins, seeking to halt drive-through voting after the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the manner of voting could proceed. Richard Mithoff, a Harris County attorney said, "We're very grateful that we saved 127,000 votes from both parties," standing with Hollins and other Texas Democrats outside
1722-404: Was brought about by Palestinian-American contractor Rasmy Hassouna, who had refused to renew his business's, A&R Engineering and Testing Inc., contract with the city of Houston due to the law. Hanen ruled that the law violated Hassouna's First Amendment right to freedom of speech . On September 13, 2023, Hanen again held that DACA was unlawful, and extended the ongoing injunction preventing
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1764-489: Was offered illegally and strategically in areas with Democratic majorities. Curbside voting in Harris County previously had been limited to disabled voters, and drive-through voting in 2020 was unrestricted. Retiree Peter Nasser, had been protesting outside the courthouse "to protect my vote," saying Republicans were "scared to death of losing Texas." On October 13, Houston Attorney David Hobbs and his wife had voted in
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