Courts deliver a blow to DACA, impacting young immigrants in the Philly region and across the U.S.

The courts have dealt another blow to DACA, the program that grants permission to live and work in the United States to about 600,000 undocumented young people who came to the country as children.

A federal appeals court in Louisiana ruled on Wednesday that the program was unlawful — leaving it intact for current beneficiaries but barring new applicants, and ordering a lower court to review recent Biden administration regulations that aimed to overcome the complications spurred by President Barack Obama’s decision to create the program by memo.

The ruling “indicates that DACA’s days are numbered,” said Laurence Benenson, vice president of policy and advocacy at the National Immigration Forum, a Washington-based advocate, making clear that Congress must craft a permanent legislative solution.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals allows qualifying undocumented immigrants to register with the government — and openly contribute to their communities, paying taxes and holding jobs. Without DACA protection, recipients would have no legal immigration status, leaving them vulnerable to detention and deportation.

“Uncertainty all the time,” said Armando Jimenez-Carbarin, 36, who was 2 when he came to the United States from Mexico with his parents and siblings.

He’s been following the latest news since word broke on Wednesday night, concerned for the future but determined to press forward for DACA recipients and other undocumented people in Pennsylvania.

“Regardless of what happens, that doesn’t take away from the fact that no one is illegal,” he said.

Jimenez-Carbarin is a lead organizer for Make the Road Pennsylvania in Allentown, where he has spent most of his life, never quite knowing what the future might bring.

“Every two years [under DACA], a background check,” he said. “Having somebody always watching. … They don’t do that to everybody. It’s a certain group of people.”

That includes people like himself and his parents, who came here “looking for what everyone is looking for, to try to live with dignity and better their lives,” he said.

President Donald Trump ended DACA in 2017, calling on Congress to craft a legislative solution that never came and ultimately sending the decision about the program into the courts.

Now thousands of recent high school and college graduates, most of whom have never known any country but the United States, face “a perilous legal situation,” said Veronica Garcia, an attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center in California.

» READ MORE: No longer young, ‘dreamers’ uneasily watch a legal challenge

Thirteen people who included some DACA recipients were arrested in Washington on Thursday when they blocked traffic on Capitol Hill while protesting the court ruling.

“I’m really just tired of the back and forth,” said DACA recipient Yeny Romero, 26. “It feels like walking on a tightrope. … I want a solution, for myself but also for all the other people who didn’t even get to quality for DACA.”

She was 6 when her parents brought her here from El Salvador, a land torn by civil war and natural disaster. They, like her, live under uncertainty, able to stay under Temporary Protected Status, where the government bars the deportation of people to designated, troubled homelands, but that, too, remains subject to review and termination.

Seeing the struggle of her community led Romero to work as the Reading community organizer for the Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition.

“I’ve come to realize that programs like DACA don’t work, because there’s always the possibility of them being removed,” she said. “We need Congress to pass a way for people to fix their status.”

Pennsylvania is home to 4,180 DACA recipients, and 14,930 live in New Jersey.

Many DACA recipients have grown to adulthood while waiting for the fate of the program to be determined. They say they’re forced to live their lives in two-year renewal increments.

The new ruling extends the uncertainty around a major American immigration program, one intended to serve as a temporary bridge to permanent status for thousands of young people.

“This is disappointing, but not the end of the story,” said Andy Kang, executive director of the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition, which has long supported DACA recipients. “This is ultimately going to come down to the Supreme Court.”

On Thursday, PICC was sharing information about the new ruling and reminding allies and partners that “it’s not the end of the fight,” Kang said.

The proposal that was supposed to solve the matter — the DREAM Act — was never enacted. Instead, Obama created DACA by executive action, a method that angers those opposed to the program. They say DACA represents a presidential overreach, and rewards those who came into the country without official permission.

DACA regulations allowed undocumented immigrants who entered the country when they were younger than 16 to apply for protection from deportation.

This latest ruling springs from a decision rendered more than a year ago.

In July 2021, Judge Andrew Hanen of the Southern District of Texas ruled that DACA was illegal, and blocked the government from approving new applications. He allowed the program to remain intact for current enrollees while the case went through the courts.

On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, known as extremely conservative, preserved that continuation for those currently enrolled, citing the disruption that would arise if the program ended immediately. But the court sent the decision on the new Biden rules, which were intended to preserve and fortify DACA, back to the lower court — effectively putting the case back in the hands of the judge who has already ruled against DACA.

About 80% of recipients came to the U.S. from Mexico, with others arriving from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and South Korea, according to the Migration Policy Institute in Washington. California is home to the most recipients, about 170,000, and 98,000 live in Texas.

Benenson noted that Americans want bipartisan action on legislation that would provide stability to DACA recipients. In a February poll, nearly 80% said they supported parties working together to strengthen border security, create a pathway to citizenship for DACA holders, and ensure a reliable workforce for farmers and ranchers.