California Opposes Terminating DACA Status

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed an amicus brief on December 21 opposing the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) practice of terminating Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status without due process. “Dreamers play by the rules. So too should their government,” said Becerra. The state’s attorney general led a coalition of 17 attorneys general in filing the brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Homeland has been terminating DACA status for some recipients based solely on the issuance of a Notice to Appear. DHS has not provided these recipients with an opportunity to contest the termination, as required under the DACA program’s written procedures, wrote Becerra. “[The] DHS’s failure to follow its own written procedures for the DACA program causes uncertainty, fear, and confusion in DACA recipients and undermines the public’s trust in the government.”