Administration did not follow proper procedures, Court says.
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court blocked President Trump from ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. They allowed the program, which protected children brought to the U.S. illegally from deportation, to stay in place. The Trump Administration had attempted to dismantle the program in September 2017.
Under the DACA program, people under the age of 18 who were brought into the U.S. illegally can apply for deportation protection and work permits for two years at a time. More than 650,000 are DACA recipients.
The Court ruled that the Trump Administration’s decision to rescind the DACA program violated the Administrative Procedure Act which sets out rulemaking procedures for federal agencies. In the opinion, authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court said the move to eliminate the program was done in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner, although they did not rule on the merits of the program itself.
“We do not decide whether DACA or its rescission are sound policies. ‘The wisdom’ of those decisions ‘is none of our concern,'” Roberts wrote. “We address only whether the agency complied with the procedural requirement that it provide a reasoned explanation for its action.”
He wrote that the administration “failed to consider the conspicuous issues of whether to retain forbearance.”
He added, “The appropriate recourse is therefore to remand to DHS [Department of Homeland Security] so that it may consider the problem anew.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For President Trump and the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, as they determine whether to reconsider the DACA program in an election year.
- For young people who are here under the DACA program as they deal with uncertainty.
- For those who advise President Trump to help him navigate the law as policies are made and proposed.
Sources: CNN, Washington Examiner, SCOTUSblog
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