Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, was appointed unlawfully, a federal judge ruled on Saturday.
Wrote US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis: “DHS failed to follow the order of succession as it was lawfully designated. Therefore the actions taken by purported acting secretaries, who were not properly in their roles according to the lawful order of succession, were taken without legal authority. … Wolf was not lawfully serving as Acting Secretary of Homeland Security under the HSA [Homeland Security Act] when he issued the Wolf Memorandum [suspending DACA].
The Guardian reports: “About 650,000 people are part of DACA, which allows young immigrants who were brought to the country as children to legally work and shields them from deportation. Karen Tumlin, an attorney who represented a plaintiff in one of two lawsuits that challenged Wolf's authority, called the ruling ‘another win for Daca recipients and those who have been waiting years to apply for the program for the first time.'”
