Mcallen- The federal government is expected to again accept new applications for a programme that grants some people without legal immigration status the ability to live and work in the United States.

Lawyers for the federal government and immigrant advocates have presented plans before a federal judge that would open the door again to accepting applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, otherwise known as DACA.

One state - Texas, where the case is being heard - however, would be exempted from providing work permits.

It's estimated that hundreds of thousands of people could be eligible to be enrolled in DACA, once a federal judge issues an order to formalise plans laid out by the Department of Justice in a legal filing made on Monday.

The programme, created under the Obama administration, grants people without legal immigration status who were brought into the country by their parents two-year, renewable permits to live and work in the US legally.

The programme has allowed people who were brought to the United States as children to temporarily remain in the country and obtain work permits. It does not confer legal status but provides protection from deportation.

Eligibility requirements include people who entered the country as children before their 16th birthday, were under 31 years old as of June 15, 2012, and have not been convicted of a felony, a significant misdemeanour, or three misdemeanours.

There would be restrictions related to work permits for those who reside in Texas, which filed a lawsuit against the DACA programme in 2018.

Nothing changes yet

DOJ attorneys laid out the proposal before US District Judge Andrew S. Hanen on Monday as part of the ongoing Texas lawsuit. It would allow US Citizenship and Immigration Services to take new and renewal applications for DACA across the country, which it has not done for four years.

In Texas, USCIS would take new and renewal applications for the DACA program but recipients residing in the state will not receive a work permit.

Attorneys representing DACA recipients proposed adding a wind-down period that would allow Texas residents to keep their work authorization for one more renewal period.

These proposals follow an earlier decision from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowing the program to continue with the work permit carveout in Texas.

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