AUSTIN, Texas (OSV News) — The Texas Catholic bishops Nov. 4 issued a warning about the effects of a soon-to-be-released plan to implement a federal appeals court order that will result in the loss of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals protections for an estimated 86,000 immigrants in the state.

The implementation “is imminently expected to change” the presence of DACA beneficiaries “from lawful to unlawful,” they said in a statement issued by the Austin-based Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, the church’s public policy arm in the state.

“We, the Catholic bishops of Texas, firmly resolve to respond with compassion and a call for justice for those who, through no fault of their own, are now being forced to abandon their homes, their livelihood and their communities,” the statement said.

Commonly known as DACA, the program has been the focus of a seven-year back-and-forth legal battle in federal courts since 2018, with numerous rulings, appeals and modifications to its status.

The latest development came on Jan. 17 of this year, when the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order after its review of a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas that declared the DACA program to be unlawful.

“While largely affirming the lower court’s ruling, the Fifth Circuit narrowed the ruling to apply only to Texas,” according to an Oct. 30 memo issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “It also separated the issues of protection from deportation and work authorization. The case was returned to the lower court for implementation of the Fifth Circuit’s order, and further guidance from the district court is expected soon.”

The case is now before U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, Texas, who will determine how to apply the appeals court ruling.

On May 1, 2018, Texas — joined by Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia — filed suit in the district court challenging the legality of the program. The suit, Texas v. United States, accused then-President Barack Obama and his administration of unlawfully and unilaterally granting what amounts to “citizenship” to “otherwise unlawfully present aliens” when it approved the DACA program in 2012.

The plaintiffs argued that DACA recipients increase state costs for education, health care and law enforcement; the district court ruled that Texas had standing to challenge the program and that it was unlawful. The 5th Circuit affirmed that Texas had standing to challenge DACA “based on the financial burden imposed by the presence of DACA recipients” and also found the program to be “substantively unlawful.”

Launched by an executive order from Obama, the program enables employment authorization and temporary protection from deportation to immigrants (commonly called “Dreamers”) brought into the U.S. by their parents as minors without legal authorization. Those eligible must have arrived before age 16, resided continuously in the U.S. since June 15, 2007, and have been under age 31 as of June 15, 2012.

According to KFF (formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation), as of Sept. 30, 2024, there were about 538,000 DAC recipients from nearly 200 different countries of origin in the U.S.

Federal officials proposed an implementation plan of the 5th Circuit’s order on Sept. 29, the USCCB memo said. Briefing by the parties has been scheduled through Nov. 24, with the district court’s detailed plan expected shortly after that.

Under the government’s plan, DACA recipients living in Texas who have a two-year renewable work permit would be given 15 days’ notice that the authorization is being revoked.

Similarly, according to data from the USCCB, “those with a work permit based on DACA who lived in other states and moved to Texas would be given that same 15 days’ notice going forward. However, the district court may introduce a different timeline for any changes to take effect.”

The 5th Circuit’s order “undermines each of these persons’ basic human right to seek work and to support a family,” the Texas bishops said. “It is contrary to the facts to claim that our state is harmed by DACA recipients lawfully working here. Instead, this kind of unprecedented and disruptive action by our government will harm our communities by fomenting fear, severing relationships, disrupting business and removing some of the most upstanding individuals from our community.”

“This decision will impact virtually every community in Texas by removing the lawful presence for DACA recipients who live in Texas,” they said.

DACA recipients would still be allowed to find employment in other states, according to The Texas Tribune. The news outlet also reported that Judge Hanen will also review a Department of Justice plan “that would see the government start accepting new DACA applications for the first time in four years,” though those applicants could not apply for work permits in Texas.

“The present distress in our country regarding immigration is the result of decades of unwillingness on all sides to enact reasonable and meaningful immigration reform, reform which respects both national security needs and the human right of each person to work and raise a family in peace,” the bishops said.

Implementation of the 5th Circuit’s order, they continued, “will harm our communities by fomenting fear, severing relationships, disrupting business and removing some of the most upstanding individuals from our community.”

Across the U.S., Christians account for approximately 80% of all of those at risk of Trump’s mass deportation effort, with the single largest group of affected Christians being Catholics, according to a joint Catholic-Evangelical report published by World Relief.

The report found one in six Catholics (18%) are either vulnerable to deportation or live with someone who is.

The Catholic Church’s Latino community is the most potentially affected by the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations. According to Pew Research Center data released in June, more than four out of 10 Catholics in the U.S. are immigrants (29%) or the children of immigrants (14%); but eight out of 10 Hispanic Catholics are either born outside the U.S. (58%) or are the children of immigrants (22%). 

ICE enforcement methods have become a major flashpoint with the Catholic Church, as various groups have charged ICE treatment of detained migrants is violating their human dignity, and that the rights of detained Catholics to receive the Eucharist and other sacraments have not been respected. The Department of Homeland Security has rejected such claims.

The Texas bishops reminded federal and state authorities “of the importance of proper training and supervision” for agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“No violent actions should ever be taken or justified to harm law enforcement officials or their families,” the bishops said. “The human dignity of law enforcement officers themselves is violated when they are expected to consider brutal and inhumane methods to enforce these decisions.

“We are pastors of ICE agents and DACA recipients, undocumented persons and families whose security is threatened,” they said. “This decision will only exacerbate fear and distrust, pit community members against one another, and cause significant economic disruption for many communities.”

The bishops added, “We want to say unequivocally to all our immigrant sisters and brothers, and in a particular way to those who arrived as children: We have heard your cries. We are with you in these difficult days.”