On July 16, Judge Andrew Hanen ordered the Biden administration to effectively shut down the DACA program by blocking the federal government from allowing new applicants, illegal aliens who have not previously been enrolled, onto the program’s rolls.
In a court filing, first reported by the Washington Times‘ Stephen Dinan, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Acting Director Tracy Renaud admitted that in violation of the court order, the agency mistakenly approved nine illegal aliens for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and collected biometric data from 52 illegal aliens seeking enrollment.
The court filing, signed by Renaud, states:
On July 16, 2021, USCIS sent guidance to DACA adjudicators to cease granting initial DACA requests and related work authorization requests, as well as to cease scheduling biometrics appointments for initial DACA requestors. [Emphasis added]
…
Despite the messaging campaign, most of the scheduled requestors arrived at the [Application Support Centers] for the appointments throughout the week of July 19. USCIS provided the contractor that operates the 131 [Application Support Centers] across the U.S. and its territories with a list of all initial DACA requestors with instructions not to collect biometrics from these requestors. However, as of July 26th, approximately 52 initial DACA requestors had biometrics collected throughout the week. USCIS determined that in each case, the cause was human error. USCIS is continuously reinforcing communications with the vendor to ensure that no further initial DACA requestors are processed for biometrics. Initial DACA requests for individuals who had biometrics collected despite the cancellation of their appointments, will not move forward with adjudication. [Emphasis added]
On Monday, July 19, 2021 USCIS identified nine initial DACA cases that were acted upon between Saturday, July 17 and Monday, July 19. USCIS was able to immediately intervene in one case before any notice was issued to the requestor, and has taken the following remedial steps to address the eight remaining cases, and further safeguard against any additional errors: [Emphasis added]
Renaud writes that “USCIS was able to prevent all related [employment authorization] cards from being mailed for the DACA initial requests acted on after July 16, 2021.”
“Six EAD cards were able to be pulled from production entirely, and the additional two cards were manually pulled after production to prevent the cards from being mailed,” Renaud writes.
“USCIS is advising the remaining eight initial individuals that their DACA approvals were void at the time of issuance and that they have not been granted DACA given this Court’s order,” she continues. “The cases have been returned to pending status and will remain on hold with all other DACA initial requests.”
The Center for Immigration Studies Robert Law called the approvals “eyebrow-raising” as USICS adjudicators would have had to work over the weekend to approve the cases.
“Based on my experience as the USCIS policy chief during the Trump administration, it is highly unusual and atypical for an adjudicator to work on cases outside of standard business hours,” Law writes.
As of 2017, more than 2,100 DACA illegal aliens have been kicked off the program after having committed a crime or being found to have previously committed crimes. Close to 800,000 illegal aliens have been allowed to remain and work in the U.S. due to DACA.
The case is Texas v. United States, No. 1:18-cv-68 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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