By Daniel Wiessner

(Reuters) – The Biden administration proposed a rule on Monday that would move an estimated 700,000 immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children to the back of the line to be deported, in a bid to preserve an Obama-era program recently struck down by a judge.

The proposal https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2021-20898.pdf from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security would “preserve and fortify” the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program first launched in 2012, the agency said, and ensure that productive young people with few ties to their home countries are not deported.

DACA beneficiaries are known as “Dreamers” and receive work authorization. They also have access to driver’s licenses, better access for some to financial aid for their education, but they do not get citizenship.

Individuals must be under 16 years old when they arrive in America and have lived in the United States for at least five years. You must also have obtained a diploma from high school or its equivalent, and you have never been convicted for any serious felonies.

According to a Texas Federal Judge, DACA was unlawfully established by the former President Barack Obama. DHS is now prohibited from accepting any new applications. That decision has been appealed by Biden’s administration.

DHS Monday stated that while the decision is being considered, DHS felt it best to concentrate its resources on the deportation of illegal entry.

It will go public on Tuesday and open to 60-days of public comment.

The proposed rule is particularly important after a bid by U.S. Senate Democrats to insert a path to citizenship for Dreamers in a budget bill hit a roadblock https://www.reuters.com/world/us/senate-democrats-push-us-immigration-reform-hits-roadblock-2021-09-20 last week, according to Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor of immigration law at Cornell Law School.

Yale-Loehr stated that while Democrats are likely to seek other avenues to grant Dreamers green cards, the rule proposed could provide temporary protection for them if current legislation is rejected.