The Legal Way to Help the ‘Dreamers’

Ten years after the President Obama Deciding to rewrite immigration law under executive law, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday rightly upheld what everyone knows: the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program of Mr. Obama, is illegal. The “dreamers” covered by it now have a safe harbor, but both sides have a responsibility to find a legislative solution.

DACA provides legal status and work permits to young people who were brought to the United States illegally as children. But the Fifth Court’s three-judge panel said the Obama Administration’s 2012 memo on creating the policy exceeded statutory authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). These are not close questions. Obama even argued in 2011 that he had no authority to wave his wand and shield the Dreamers from deportation.