When she trekked north to the US, 15-year-old Marjory brought a complaint signed by a Guatemalan judge that described one of her stepfather's attempts to sexually abuse her.
The Trump admin. has used a 19th public health law to expel migrants from US soil without a court hearing or an asylum interview, and to suspend legal safeguards Congress created for unaccompanied children like Marjory.
Three federal judges have said the policy is unlawful.
Pres.-elect Joe Biden has not committed to ending these expulsions.
Biden's campaign did say a review of the policy would be conducted to ensure migrants could request asylum.
An adviser to Biden's transition told @CBSNews the review would be guided by public health experts.
Marjory does not feel safe in Guatemala and wants to be with her father in Pennsylvania.
Her message to the US: “Listen to us, look at our cases to see how we feel after all that has happened and give us an opportunity to be with our family, who we love." cbsnews.com/news/ice-expel…
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BREAKING — US Judge Nicholas Garaufis has ordered the Trump administration to fully restore DACA, instructing DHS to open the Obama-era program to new applicants for the first time since 2017.
STORY: Judge orders restoration of DACA, opening immigration program to new applicants
An estimated one million undocumented immigrant teens and young adults who qualify for DACA on paper could soon apply in the wake of today's order. cbsnews.com/news/daca-rest…
DHS has 3 days to post a notice about these changes.
Prospective new applicants include teens who turned 15 after Sept 2017 & young adults—including those who have earned GEDs.
Thousands of migrant children have been expelled from the US border under a pandemic policy authorized by the CDC.
3 federal judges have concluded the policy is unlawful; one ordered the US to stop expelling unaccompanied children.
Marjory was expelled a week before that order.
If allowed to stay in the US, Marjory may have qualified for a humanitarian visa for migrant youth who suffered abuse, neglect or abandonment, per lawyers.
Had she been transferred to the US refugee office—as required by law—she could’ve reunited with her father in Pennsylvania.
The Trump admin. told a federal court last night that it agrees DHS head Chad Wolf's restrictions on DACA should be set aside.
That would, DOJ agrees, return DACA to its 2012 form, allowing initial applications and 2-year protections, work permits (Wolf enacted 1-year periods).
The admin. committed to posting a notice for prospective DACA applicants.
The DOJ said that further court orders—like one explicitly ordering DHS to accept initial applications or providing 65,800 DACA recipients who received 1-year work permits with new ones—are unnecessary.
The Trump admin.'s argument:
"such an order could even potentially cause great harm to Plaintiffs, were it to prevent future agency efforts to expand or fortify DACA, or if it were to dampen congressional incentives for negotiation on a permanent legislative solution."
New: In the past 5 weeks, US border agents placed 332 migrant children in ICE flights & expelled them without a hearing or asylum interview, per a court filing today.
The Trump admin. has argued that migrant minors and other border-crossers could spread COVID inside the US. 1/
While Pres. Trump's top DHS officials have said the border expulsions policy is designed to contain COVID-19, three former Trump admin. officials told me that the White House / Stephen Miller pressured the CDC to authorize it, overruling career experts. 2/ cbsnews.com/news/trump-adm…
Between Oct 1 and Nov 9, US officials placed at least 429 migrant children in expulsions proceedings.
373 of them were held in hotels—most were unaccompanied children. Dozens of other kids were held with their parents at an ICE family detention center before being expelled. 3/
NEW — Another federal court has found that Pres. Trump's top DHS official Chad Wolf was unlawfully appointed, and that he did not have the authority to restrict DACA.
Judge Nicholas Garaufis is not the only federal judge to question the legality of Wolf's appointment — which @USGAO also found to be invalid.
Wolf signed a memo in July that shortened the duration of protections for DACA recipients and closed the program to new applicants.
While Garaufis said Wolf did not have the authority to make these restrictions, he did not explicitly order DHS to accept initial DACA petitions. Instead, he ordered parties to ask for relief.
@KarenTumlin, a lawyer representing DACA recipients, said she intends to do just that.
A federal judge in NY found that DHS head Chad Wolf "was not lawfully serving" as acting sec. when he limited DACA protections & closed the program to new applicants.
The judge also certified a class of immigrants who are or could be eligible for DACA under its 2012 guidelines.
Judge Nicholas Garaufis said Wolf did not have the authority to issue the July memo restricting DACA.
He directed parties to "advise of any forthcoming motions for relief in light of the court's decision."
There are undocumented immigrant teens and young adults across the US who are eligible for DACA on paper and meet the 2012 requirements, but have been locked out of the program, which offers protections from deportation.