Roll Call Quotes Casey Higgins on DACA Future on Capitol Hill

In “Latest ‘Dreamers’ court ruling prompts calls for Senate to act,” Roll Call discusses increased pressure being applied by immigration advocates on Congress to pass legislation establishing a path to citizenship for undocumented people brought to the U.S. as children. A recent appeals court decision ruled against the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects these people, also known as “Dreamers,” from deportation and allows them to work. As the ruling does not entirely outlaw the program, the article notes, there may be less incentive for Congress to act on a contentious immigration issue in an election year.

Akin Gump public law and policy senior counsel Casey Higgins, who previously served as an adviser to former House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-WI) on, among other issues, immigration, said that, although the threat of the U.S. Supreme Court ending DACA earlier this year could have been enough to spur action, this new court delay could cause the issue to remain on Capitol Hill even longer: “What we think was a June problem is now a ‘TBD in the future’ problem. Congress loves a deadline, and this has removed the deadline.”