Page 39 - The Indian EYE 112026

IMMIGRATION NOVEMBER 20, 2026 | The Indian Eye 39

on DACA a priority. The state could was the only state that had demon- sis in our Insightful Immigration Blog such a motion does not suspend the
seek to withdraw its claims and ask the strated an injury, which is why it limit- post, “The Legal Basis for DACA as judgment.
court to address the continuing orders. ed the injunction to Texas. Courthouse Expressed in the Final Rule” (August Whether relief is available would
That could materially change the pos- News’s account of the ruling explains 31, 2022). Even though the courts have depend on the record and the govern-
ture of a case in which the remedy has that point. held the rule unlawful and the remedy ing law—not simply on a change of po-
been tied specifically to Texas. It would The Trump administration could is now limited to Texas, a rule on the litical preference. Rule 60 underscores
also send an unmistakable message: also try to rescind DACA itself, but books generally cannot be undone by the need for a court-approved legal
the state need not define its inter- that would not be a quick fix. In August a simple memo. We expect that end- path.
ests as being opposed to the ability of 2022, the Department of Homeland ing DACA through the administration The responsible claim is therefore
Dreamers to live and work here. Security issued a Biden-era final rule would require a formal rulemaking narrower, but still important: Texas
But withdrawal would raise ques- that “preserves and fortifies” DACA and would likely draw new litigation. could stop pressing its challenge and
tions rather than answer all of them. in federal regulations. The Congres- A withdrawal is not an eraser. support efforts to remove the result-
Could another plaintiff state establish sional Research Service’s summary de- Existing judgments and injunctions ing obstacles. It could not promise
an independent basis to continue? scribes the rule and the earlier attempt require separate attention. Federal that first-time DACA approvals would
What relief would the district court to rescind the program in Trump’s first Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(5), for immediately resume, that every prior
grant concerning the existing judg- term, which the Supreme Court held example, permits a party to seek relief decision would disappear, or that a
ment and injunction? How would the violated procedural requirements in when applying a judgment prospec- federal administration would adopt a
appellate mandate constrain the pro- 2020. We analyzed the rule’s legal ba- tively is no longer equitable, but filing particular policy.
ceedings? The Fifth Circuit’s decision ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
supplies the framework, not a guaran- Cyrus D. Mehta, a graduate of Cambridge University and Columbia Law School, is the Managing Partner of Cyrus D. Mehta
tee that Texas’s departure would auto- & Partners PLLC in New York City. Mr. Mehta is a member of AILA’s Administrative Litigation Task Force; AILA’s EB-5 Com-
matically end every legal barrier. mittee; former chair of AILA’s Ethics Committee; special counsel on immigration matters to the Departmental Disciplinary
Until now, Texas’s litigation Committee, Appellate Division, First Department, New York; member of the ABA Commission on Immigration; board member
against DACA has allowed the Trump of Volunteers for Legal Services and board member of New York Immigration Coalition. Mr. Mehta is the former chair of the
administration to sit by. The adminis- Board of Trustees of the American Immigration Council and former chair of the Committee on Immigration and Nationality
tration has not had to take the lead in Law of the New York City Bar Association. He is a frequent speaker and writer on various immigration-related issues, including
dismantling the program because Tex- on ethics, and is also an adjunct professor of law at Brooklyn Law School, where he teaches a course entitled Immigration and
as has been doing it in court. If Texas
withdraws, that dynamic changes. An- Work. Mr. Mehta received the AILA 2018 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for advancing the practice of immigration law
other plaintiff could seek to intervene and the AILA 2011 Michael Maggio Memorial Award for his outstanding efforts in providing pro bono representation in the
and carry on the challenge, although it immigration field. He has also received two AILA Presidential Commendations in 2010 and 2016. Mr. Mehta is ranked among
would have to establish its own stand- the most highly regarded lawyers in North America by Who’s Who Legal – Corporate Immigration Law 2019 and is also ranked
ing. The Fifth Circuit found that Texas in Chambers USA and Chambers Global 2019 in immigration law, among other rankings.

www.TheIndianEYE.com