Department of Homeland Security

Judge: DHS Head Didn't Have Authority to Suspend DACA

"This is really a hopeful day for a lot of young people across the country," said Karen Tumlin, a lawyer in the case and director of the Los Angeles-based Justice Action Center

Chad Wolf, acting Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, testifies at a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on the Department of Homeland Security.
Michael Brochstein/Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images

A federal judge in New York City on Saturday said Chad Wolf has not been acting lawfully as the chief of Homeland Security and that, as such, his suspension of protections for a class of migrants brought to the United States illegally as children is invalid.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that the Trump administration wrongly tried to shut down protections under the Obama-era legislation known as DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. On July 28, Wolf nonetheless suspended DACA pending review, NBC News reports.

Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Judge Nicholas Garaufis said court conferences would be held to work out details of his ruling.

He concluded, "Wolf was not lawfully serving as Acting Secretary of Homeland Security under the HSA [Homeland Security Act] when he issued the Wolf Memorandum" that suspended DACA.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com

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