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Indicted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton isn't done attacking DACA recipients just yet [1]

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Date: 2023-02-01  

Judge Andrew Hanen, a George W. Bush appointee with a lengthy record of blocking pro-immigrant policy, first ruled against the policy a year and a half ago. Hanen claimed the Obama administration hadn’t gone through proper procedures in creating DACA back in 2012. In seeking to protect the policy amid lawsuits, the Biden administration then created and finalized a new rule replacing the 2012 memo. But Hanen last fall unsurprisingly extended his injunction to cover the rule. While first-time applications have remained blocked, renewals have continued.

“However, the states challenging DACA's legality asked Hanen on Tuesday to find that the regulations issued last year are also unlawful and to block the government from approving renewal applications two years after a decision is made,” CBS News reports. Camilo Montoya-Galvez, a great immigration reporter, questions whether Hanen would actually end renewals “since he has previously expressed concern about disrupting the lives of immigrants enrolled in the program.”

But there’s also a reason why Republicans have for years been going straight to Hanen when seeking to end immigration policy implemented by Democrats. Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kansas, and Mississippi now have yet another ask.

In the meantime, there are real human beings who are suffering under all this continued certainty. But that’s exactly what Paxton wants. Remember, he really doesn’t have to do this. DACA isn’t hurting him, or anybody else in Texas. Immigrants literally have to pay to be in the program ($495 per renewal, not including any lawyer’s fees if they need additional help). Their work permits mean tax dollars for the states (including Texas) and federal government. But he wants the suffering. He thinks it’ll help him politically. Considering how he just won reelection, maybe he’s (terribly) right. But also consider that if you’re maybe too busy believing that those immigrants are criminals who are taking straight from your pocket, you won’t think about the felony securities fraud trial he’s managed to evade for years.

By the way, DACA recipients have to pass a background check as part of every first-time and renewal application process. I know there’s no criminal conviction because Paxton hasn’t even gone to trial yet after like 300 years, but he sure is one shady mfer. Do you think he could pass one?

"How will I be able to financially support myself? It would be one big question mark,” 25-year-old DACA recipient Camila de Pierola tells CBS News. She’s set to graduate with a master’s degree from U.C. Berkeley in just a couple months and wants to go to medical school. But Paxton’s plans may crap on that. “I'm sure there would be a lot of outrage as well," she continued to CBS News.

Most Americans support continuing the DACA program, as well as legislation to permanently protect them. Polling from late last year also showed that Americans supported a package that paired permanent relief with border security. But Senate Republicans killed a framework that would have done just that. Since then, pathological liar George Santos has claimed that his party will take steps to protect young immigrants. Well, Texas wants to end all DACA protections within two years. What are you waiting for, George?

RELATED STORIES:

While new rule protecting DACA is now in effect, first-time applications remain blocked due to GOP

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/1/2150494/-Indicted-Texas-attorney-general-Ken-Paxton-isn-t-done-attacking-DACA-recipients-just-yet

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