First, a general timeline:
Nov. 20, 2014 - President Obama announces executive actions establishing DAPA and expanded-DACA
Dec. 03, 2014 - Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sues the Department of Justice (DOJ) in an attempt to stop DAPA (case name: Texas vs. United States)
Feb. 16, 2015 - Judge Hanen issues injunction against DAPA (halting DAPA applications while Texas vs. United States continues)
Feb. 23, 2015 - DOJ appeals the injunction decision to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and asks for an emergency stay of the injunction (Texas vs. United States continues with Judge Hanen)
May 26, 2015 - 5th Circuit Court of Appeals denies emergency stay, upholding the injunction
Jul. 13, 2015 - Arguments presented before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals
Nov. 09, 2015 - 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issues a decision in favor of the State of Texas; injunction stands
Nov. 20, 2015 - DOJ appeals the decision of the Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court
Dec. 01, 2015 – Supreme Court denies Texas’s request for 30 – day extension to respond to appeal (Good news for DAPA!)
So, where is DAPA now?
For now, the principal case of Texas vs. United States is still in Judge Hanen's court in Texas. The Supreme Court has been asked to review only the injunction stopping DAPA, not the DAPA case itself.
Based on the Supreme Court’s decision of December 1, 2015 the estimated future timeline is as follows:
Dec. 29, 2015 – Deadline for Texas to respond to DOJ’s appeal
Jan. 15, 2016 – Supreme Court conference will consider the appeal; at this point, they will decide whether to accept the case or not.
If the Supreme Court decides to hear the case, then:
Feb/Mar 2016 – Briefings on the case
Apr. 2016 – Oral arguments
Jun. 2016 – Supreme Court decision will likely be issued
If the Supreme Court decides NOT to hear the case, then:
We must wait for Judge Hanen to issue a decision on the Texas vs. United States case, and perhaps, have DAPA work its way up the ladder to the Supreme Court again.
Keep checking our blog for futher updates on DAPA.