L-37525/19\1999560
COUNCIL AGENDA: 2/28/2023
ITEM: 2.7
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR
AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Nora Frimann City
Attorney
SUBJECT: Amicus Brief in State of Texas et
al. v. The United States of
America, et al. (DACA)
DATE: February 16, 2023
RECOMMENDATION:
Authorize the City Attorney to join in an Amicus Curiae brief being drafted by the County of Los Angeles and City of Los Angeles on behalf of cities and counties in support of appellants/defendants in a challenge to the legality of the DACA program in State of Texas et al. v. The United States of America, et al., Case No. 1:18cv00068.
BACKGROUND:
The City of San Jose filed a lawsuit on September 14, 2017, challenging a federal administrative decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program without complying with the federal Administrative Procedures Act. That action was consolidated with a similar case filed by the Regents of the University of California.
Other cases were filed elsewhere, including in New York and Washington D.C. The U.S.
Supreme Court ultimately found that the rescission was unlawful for those who had been complying with and receiving the protections of the program.
Subsequent to that decision, the State of Texas and several other states, filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of Texas challenging the legality of the DACA program itself. Previously, an amicus brief drafted by the City of Los Angeles and County of Los Angeles was filed on behalf of many local entities nationwide in support of appellants/defendants in the appellate case State of Texas et al. v. The United States of America, et al., Case No. 21-40680 (5th Circuit). This brief will be submitted to the trial court following the Fifth Circuit appellate decision remanding the case to the District court.
L-37525/19\1999560
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
Subject: Amicus Brief in State of Texas et al. v. The United States of America, et al. (DACA) February 16, 2023
Federal District Judge Andrew S. Hanen of the Southern District of Texas issued an order and permanent injunction in the District Court on July 16, 2021, finding that DACA as a program is unlawful. The June 15, 2012 memo of Janet Napolitano, the head of Homeland Security, was vacated along with the DACA program it created, and the memorandum was remanded to the Department of Homeland Security for further consideration. The decision enjoined the federal government from administering the DACA program under the injunction.
On October 5, 2022, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals published its decision upholding the district court’s judgment that DACA is unlawful but remanded the case back to the district court to decide whether regulations that took effect after the district court’s decision affect the district court’s conclusion that the DACA program is unlawful.
The proposed amicus brief will be filed on behalf of cities and counties to urge the district court to reverse its order because that order did not consider amici’s significant reliance interests and the harmful effects the ruling will have on recipients, their families, their employers, and communities nationwide if DACA is held to be unlawful. The brief will also address the district Court’s inaccurate finding that DACA should be enjoined because it purportedly conferred work authorization “benefits” on recipients. The brief is expected to be submitted to the Court in early March.
CEQA
Not a Project, File No. PP17-010, City Organizational and Administrative Activities resulting in no changes to the physical environment.
By: /s/ Nora Frimann
NORA FRIMANN
City Attorney
cc: Jennifer Maguire, City Manager
For questions, please contact NORA FRIMANN, City Attorney, at (408) 535-1900