Attorney General Becerra Vows to Defend DACA in Supreme Court

U.S. Supreme Court today granted the Trump Administration’s petition to review our case, moving legal fight to the Supreme Court 

SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today released a statement following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to grant the federal government’s petition to review the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) lawsuit led by California. This decision moves California’s DACA lawsuit from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to the United States Supreme Court.  

“DACA reflects our nation’s commitment to helping hardworking people and creates hope and opportunity for a new generation – many of whom were brought to our country as toddlers. So far, both lower courts in our legal fight to protect DACA have agreed with us that the Trump Administration’s attempt to end it was unlawful,” said Attorney General Becerra. “In California and across our nation, Dreamers enrich our communities as scholars, entrepreneurs, first responders, and much more. We look forward to making our case before the Supreme Court.”

On September 11, 2017, Attorney General Becerra led the Attorneys General of Maine, Maryland, and Minnesota in filing a lawsuit opposing the Trump Administration’s decision to end the DACA program. In January, 2018, Attorney General Becerra as well as the University of California, individual Dreamers, and other entities, obtained a preliminary injunction in the district court for the Northern District of California, keeping the DACA program in place while the underlying litigation continues. On November 8, 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed California’s preliminary injunction. In order to comply with the court order obtained by California, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services resumed accepting requests to renew deferred action under DACA. Since the nationwide injunction was issued, the federal government has approved more than 373,000 DACA renewal applications, allowing hundreds of thousands of Dreamers to continue to study, work, and remain with their families.

Although the district court has not yet entered a final judgment in California’s case, the Trump Administration submitted a request to the U.S. Supreme Court asking them to review the preliminary injunction immediately. Today the U.S. Supreme Court accepted the federal government’s petition. California will continue its legal defense of DACA before the Supreme Court.