‘PROTECT DREAMERS’

Biden Set to Shield DACA From Legal Challenges With New Rule

The Obama-era program for undocumented people brought to the U.S. as children has been contested for years.

The Biden administration on Wednesday moved to finalize a rule that would turn the Deferred Action for Children Arrivals (DACA) policy into a federal regulation, thereby protecting the immigration policy for more than 600,000 “DREAMers” from legal challenges. The new rule, announced by the Department of Homeland Security, is due to come into effect Oct. 31. “Today, we are taking another step to do everything in our power to preserve and fortify DACA, an extraordinary program that has transformed the lives of so many DREAMers,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. DACA has been contested in legal battles for years. The deportation-protection program has been questioned by Republican-led states on the grounds that part of it may have been created improperly. President Biden has prioritized protecting the Obama-era policy, using an executive action on his first day in office to instruct the DHS to find ways to “preserve and fortify” DACA. “I will do everything within my power to protect DREAMers, but congressional Republicans should stop blocking a bill that provides a pathway to citizenship for DREAMers,’’ Biden said in a statement.