Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton along with nine other state attorneys general and the governor of Idaho urged the Trump Administration to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program. In the letter sent to the U.S. Attorney General, Paxton and the multi-state coalition urge the Secretary of Homeland Security to phase out the DACA program – by rescinding the 2012 DACA memorandum and ensuring that no new DACA permits are issued and no existing DACA permits are renewed in the future. The request does not ask the federal government to remove any alien currently covered by DACA, nor does it ask the Trump Administration to rescind DACA permits that have already been issued.
Paxton and the coalition promised to voluntarily dismiss their lawsuit challenging unlawful deferred-action programs currently pending in district court if the Trump Administration agrees by September 5 to rescind DACA and not renew or issue any new DACA permits in the future. “Otherwise, the complaint in that case will be amended to challenge both the DACA program and the remaining Expanded DACA permits,” the letter states.