Trump Praises Maryland Judge's Ruling To End DACA

BALTIMORE, MD — Monday's deadline to end the federal policy known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — which allows immigrants brought to the country illegally as children to stay in the U.S. — passed with courts across the country sorting out challenges to the action. Federal judge Roger Titus ruled in Maryland Monday that President Trump has the authority to end the Obama-era policy, which drew praise from the president even as the judge wrote he does not agree with Trump's action.

Monday's ruling does not change a nationwide injunction issued by a federal judge in San Francisco that requires the Trump administration to continue renewing work permits granted these immigrants under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, ABC News reports.

"This court does not like the outcome of this case, but is constrained by its constitutionally limited role to the result that it has reached," Judge Titus wrote in his opinion. "Hopefully, the Congress and the president will finally get their job done."

Titus who was appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush, said that judges should not decide what policies rise out of a political debate.

"An overwhelming percentage of Americans support protections for 'Dreamers,' yet it is not the province of the judiciary to provide legislative or executive actions when those entrusted with those responsibilities fail to act," Titus wrote, reports Politico. (For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)

When Trump tweeted Tuesday morning that the judge sided with him, he neglected to mention that Titus opposes the end of DACA, but ruled the law gives the president the authority to act on it.

Nationwide, 690,000 immigrants brought to the United States as children and granted DACA status could be deported starting this week without a deal. Since being implemented in an executive order by President Obama in 2012, nearly 800,000 immigrants have been approved for DACA. The program grants them a renewable two-year reprieve from deportation and permission to work.

Deportations of Dreamers have begun to ramp up, and data indicates Maryland could be affected more than most states and metro areas in the United States. Maryland has an estimated 8,100 DACA recipients, the 17th highest number among U.S. states and territories. The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area has 13,700 DACA recipients, the 10th highest of metro areas. And the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson metro has 2,000 DACA recipients.

Their average age is 24. None of them collects welfare benefits such as cash assistance, food stamps or Medicaid. More than half were brought to the United States when they were 6 years old or younger. More than 90 percent of them have jobs. They have contributed billions of dollars in taxes to Social Security and Medicaid though they are not currently entitled to benefits from either program. Their desire to become permanent legal residents is supported by the vast majority of Americans, Democrats, Republicans and independents alike, according to numerous polls.

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