Every morning in Fort Worth, DACA recipient Juan Carlos Cerda wakes up with the same thought: “Am I next?” Cerda, who lives, works, and pays taxes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, says the threat of a Texas judge cutting off work authorization for Dreamers has families and employers scrambling to figure out how they would handle a sudden loss of income. The expected ruling would not immediately end deportation protections, but it could reshape where tens of thousands of people in Texas are able to legally live and work.
“We have 89,000 DACA recipients who contribute $6 billion in spending power and pay $1.3 billion in taxes,” Cerda told reporters, underscoring what is at stake for neighborhoods and small businesses across the state. For now, he and other recipients are waiting on a remedial order from U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, who must decide how the Fifth Circuit’s ruling will play out on the ground, according to CBS News. CBS reported that Cerda’s current work permit expires at the end of this month and that he has already filed his renewal.
What the appeals court decided
On Jan. 17, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that key portions of the 2022 DACA regulation, including provisions tied to employment authorization and “lawful presence,” are unlawful and limited the remedy to Texas, while keeping in place a stay that allows renewals for now. That split decision sent the case back to the district court so a judge can craft a Texas-specific remedy. As the American Immigration Lawyers Association has outlined, the remand leaves federal officials and Judge Hanen to figure out whether work permits can actually be separated from deportation protections in day-to-day practice, per AILA.
What the government has proposed
Last fall, the Justice Department floated a plan that would let U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services resume accepting both new and renewal DACA applications nationwide, while blocking employment authorization for people who live in Texas. The proposal, reported by the Justice Department to the court, would keep deportation protections intact outside Texas but carve out work permits for Texas residents unless the judge orders something different, according to AP News. Any such plan would still need Judge Hanen’s signoff and could be appealed, leaving the timeline murky.
Who would be hurt
Advocates say the damage would be fast and far-reaching. The American Immigration Council estimates that Texas is home to about 90,000 current DACA recipients and that roughly 221,000 Texans could qualify for the program. It also warns that more than 530,000 people across the country could be driven out of the workforce if other states follow Texas’ lead. Hospitals, school districts, and small businesses already rely on DACA recipients as essential staff, and local officials warn that losing work authorization overnight could push many workers to move away or leave their chosen careers. The council argues that what happens in Texas could become a national test case with ripple effects throughout the labor market, per the American Immigration Council.
What recipients and employers are doing now
For now, USCIS is still accepting and processing renewals, and attorneys are urging DACA recipients to file as early as possible, keep paperwork up to date, and talk to qualified legal counsel, according to practice alerts from immigration lawyers. Employers, meanwhile, are dusting off contingency plans, and some DACA workers say they are already preparing to relocate to states where work authorization would remain protected. Legal organizations caution that a remedial order could include either a short wind-down period or abrupt changes, which is keeping communities on edge, as per AILA.
Judge Hanen has not set a firm deadline for issuing his implementing order, and advocates point out that appeals could drag the fight out for months. Community legal clinics in Fort Worth and across Texas are lining up renewal workshops and outreach events while they track every move on the court docket. Whatever Hanen decides, attorneys say the case is almost certain to keep climbing into higher courts and to influence state-level policy battles well beyond Texas, per The Texas Tribune.
