Hi, I'm Dan Pramak, and welcome to Axios Recap, where we dig into one big story.

Today is Monday, July 19th. Stocks are way down, COVID cases are way up, and we're focused on the future of DACA.

On Friday, a federal judge in Texas block DACA, the Obama-era program that prevents deportation

of undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S.'s children. His 77-page opinion concluded the program

was unlawful because it sidestepped federal rulemaking procedures and once again has thrown

the lives of over 600,000 people

into a state of legal limbo. Three things to know. First, this ruling does not mean we're about

to see mass deportations, but it does mean that the Department of Homeland Security can no

longer approve new DACA applications, of which there are over 80,000 pending, nor can it grant protections

to said applicants.

Two, DACA not only protects people from being deported, but it also allows them to work

legally in the U.S., with those rights being renewable at two-year increments.

Three, the judge's ruling is the result of a 2018 lawsuit brought by nine states led by Texas. It also comes just a

year after DACA survived a challenge in the Supreme Court by a five to four ruling, largely because

SCOTUS found that the Trump administration hadn't followed proper administrative procedure.

The big question now, of course, is what comes next? Some of that will play out in the courts,

as President Biden has already

pledged to appeal Friday's ruling. But the big picture here is that most of the legal

battles are the result of President Obama taking the DACA action unilaterally rather than getting

it through Congress. Democrats now have the numbers to codify this into legislation,

at least in theory.

So in 15 seconds, we'll go deeper with Axios immigration reporter Steph Kite about her reaction to the ruling and where she thinks the legal and political battles go from here.

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