DOJ Ruling Clears Path to Deport DACA Recipients Without First Revoking Their Status, Affecting 500,000 Dreamers
Why It Matters
A significant shift in federal immigration enforcement policy is now underway, with direct implications for Arizona and border states across the Southwest. A ruling from the Department of Justice’s Board of Immigration Appeals has determined that holding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status is not sufficient grounds to block a deportation order, potentially exposing hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens who entered the country as children to removal without the prior step of terminating their DACA status.
The decision marks a meaningful escalation in the Trump administration’s broader effort to enforce immigration law and reduce the number of illegal immigrants shielded from deportation through executive programs created under the Obama administration.
What Happened
On April 24, the DOJ’s Board of Immigration Appeals issued a ruling finding that DACA status alone is not sufficient to terminate removal proceedings against a recipient. The case arose from an appeal filed by Department of Homeland Security immigration attorneys after an immigration judge had ended deportation proceedings against a DACA recipient, Catalina “Xóchitl” Santiago, citing her DACA status as a reason she could not be deported.
A three-judge panel ruled against that reasoning, establishing a legal precedent that immigration judges may now proceed with removal without first canceling a recipient’s DACA status. While the decision does not mean Santiago faces immediate deportation, it sets a binding precedent applicable to similar cases going forward.
Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus publicly raised concerns about the ruling during a Thursday appearance. Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat, a New York Democrat, stated that previously, immigration authorities were required to terminate a recipient’s DACA status before proceeding with deportation. Under the new ruling, that step is no longer required. Spokespeople for the Department of Justice did not respond to requests for comment.
By the Numbers
- ~500,000 — Current DACA recipients potentially affected by the ruling
- April 24, 2026 — Date the Board of Immigration Appeals issued its decision
- 2012 — Year the Obama administration created the DACA program
- 2017 — Year the Trump administration first attempted to rescind DACA during his first term
- 3 — Number of judges on the BIA panel that issued the ruling
Zoom Out
The ruling fits within the Trump administration’s broader, ongoing effort to enforce existing immigration law and dismantle executive amnesty programs that critics argue were never authorized by Congress. DACA was created unilaterally by the Obama administration in 2012 and has faced repeated legal challenges from Republican-led states. A federal appeals court previously allowed work permits in Texas to expire while keeping deportation protections in place — a legal patchwork the new BIA ruling now further complicates.
During his first term, President Trump moved to halt new DACA applications in 2017, sending recipients into legal uncertainty until the Supreme Court ruled against the rescission effort. The current ruling does not rescind DACA outright but sidesteps protections at the individual case level, a strategy that may prove more durable in federal court.
Arizona has long been a flashpoint in the national debate over immigration enforcement. State Republicans have pushed back aggressively against localities that resist federal immigration cooperation — as seen in efforts to probe Pima County’s anti-ICE policies, where lawmakers triggered a mandatory investigation with a 30-day deadline for the Democrat attorney general to act.
What’s Next
Immigration advocacy groups are expected to mount legal challenges to the BIA ruling in federal court. The decision may also prompt renewed legislative debate in Congress over whether to codify DACA protections into law — an effort that has stalled repeatedly over the past decade due to disagreements over broader immigration reform measures.
Democratic lawmakers have called on the administration to reverse course, though no formal legislative response has been introduced publicly as of this report. The administration has given no indication it intends to revisit the ruling. As Arizona and other border states brace for potential increases in deportation proceedings, state-level immigration enforcement debates are likely to intensify in the weeks ahead.