The Supreme Court happily ruled that the administration’s decision to end DACA violated the Administrative Procedure Act, and therefore DACA will continue, not only for those who already have DACA, but will open up for eligible individuals who did not already have DACA.

However, this is only a band-aid; the Supreme Court did not rule that the administration could not end DACA, only that the way it did so was illegal. In addition, DACA is not a path to citizenship, and the administration may attack the work eligibility portion of the program. Congress must still take action to create a path to citizenship.

A federal judge recently ordered that all children held in ICE detention must be released by July to protect against COVID-19 infection. However, since this fell under the Flores settlement, it does not apply to adults. This will possibly become another form of family separation unless ICE releases families rather than only the children. Families Belong Together is calling upon ICE to do just that.

Lastly, the administration has released a number of anti-immigration policies in the last month, including suspending many work visas, and preventing asylum-seekers from working until a year after applying for asylum. However, the worst policy set forward thus far has been the administration’s proposed rules for changing the asylum process, which would make applying for asylum in the US almost impossible. Included in the rules are:

• barring granting asylum based on gender
• changing the definition of persecution
• redefining membership in a social group, making it more difficult for LGBT individuals etc.
• denying asylum to those who have gone through other countries on their way to US
• denying many asylum seekers a day in court
• creating many more bars on eligibility including no longer allowing individuals to apply for asylum more than one year after entry into the US (no matter the reason), or who fail to pay one penny of taxes (no matter the reason)

The Public Comments period ends July 15th. We encourage all to submit comments using this template from AILA, or on the Regulations.Gov website.