© Farhad Sethna, Attorney 2017
Much has been made about last week’s (June 15) repeal by Trump of President Obama’s memo creating the “DAPA” status for undocumented parents of US citizen children. Under DAPA, such parents could seek to receive work authorization for upto two years. As with the DACA program, certain restrictions applied.
However, DAPA was found unconstitutional by the 5th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, based in Louisiana. The case went up to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court in a 4-4 split (Judge Scalia having died and his replacement not being announced) essentially upheld the 5th Circuit’s decision. Therefore, DAPA was never implemented.
Given that DAPA could never be implemented, it is superfluous for Trump to now have “rescinded” DAPA. You cant rescind something that never took place. The only reason that Trump did this was to somehow mollify his base. Perhaps he thinks that people really are quite so unknowing as to believe that DAPA was already in existence. Maybe Trump thinks that by “repealing” DAPA, he is looking tough on immigration and keeping up his campaign promises. Whatever the reasons, Trump’s repeal of DAPA is fake. It was already meaningless from 2016, and continues to be a meaningless piece of paper. Trump’s supposed repeal therefore, is just another fake action, done to feed his supporters with fake news.
About the author: Attorney Farhad Sethna has practiced law for over 25 years. Since 1996, he has been an adjunct professor of Immigration Law at the University of Akron, School of Law, in Akron, Ohio. He is a frequent speaker at Continuing Legal Education and professional development seminars on various immigration-related topics. His practice is limited to immigration and small business. With offices in Cuyahoga Falls, Akron and Dover, Ohio, Attorney Sethna represents clients in all types of immigration cases. Our number is: (330)-384-8000. Please send your general immigration questions to AttorneySethna@immigration-america.com. We will try to answer as many questions as possible.