Solicitor General Tells SCOTUS: Federal Law Does Not Allow DACA Work Permits

The nation’s immigration law does not allow the large-scale award of work permits to the huge class of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) migrants, the nation’s solicitor general told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

“My final and critical point is that there’s no limiting principle” in the award of benefits — including work permits — to DACA enrollees, Solicitor General Leon Francisco told the court. He continued:

"The theory on which DACA rests effectively allows the government to create a shadow [Immigration and Nationality Act] INA for any category of aliens that it chooses to make low-priority targets, a shadow second-tier INA. And you, at the very least, need to locate something in the INA that confers that kind of broad and unfettered discretion. And there is simply nothing there."

This admission creates a problem for technology investors because it may lead to a rollback of several huge, wage-lowering visa-worker programs, including the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program used by Microsoft and many other corporations.

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