Supreme Court rules against Trump’s attempt to end DACA, a win for undocumented ‘Dreamers’ brought to U.S. as children

June 18, 2020 in News, Video by RBN Staff

Source:  msn

Robert Barnes  

Supreme Court rules against Trump’s attempt to end DACA, a win for undocumented ‘Dreamers’ brought to U.S. as children
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to dismantle the program protecting undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children, a reprieve for nearly 650,000 recipients known as “dreamers”.

 

The 5 to 4 decision was written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and joined by the court’s four liberals. It was the second defeat this week for the Trump administration, as the Supreme Court begins to unveil its decision in marquee cases.

The administration has tried for more than two years to “wind down” the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, announced by President Barack Obama in 2012 to protect from deportation qualified young immigrants who had been brought illegally to the country.

But, as lower courts had found, Roberts said the administration did not follow procedures required by law, and did not properly weigh how ending the program would affect those who had come to rely on its protections against deportation, and the ability to work legally.

“We do not decide whether DACA or its rescission are sound policies,” Roberts wrote.

He added: “We address only whether the [Department of Homeland Security] complied with the procedural requirement that it provide a reasoned explanation for its action. Here the agency failed to consider the conspicuous issues of whether to retain forbearance and what if anything to do about the hardship to DACA recipients. That dual failure raises doubts about whether the agency appreciated the scope of its discretion or exercised that discretion in a reasonable manner.”

Nearly 800,000 people over the years have participated in the program, which provides a chance for enrollees to work legally in the United States as long as they follow the rules and have a clean record.

More than 90 percent of DACA recipients are employed and 45 percent are in school, according to one government study. Advocates recently told the Supreme Court that nearly 30,000 work in the health care industry, and their work was necessary to fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

While the program does not provide a direct path to citizenships, it provides a temporary status that shields them from deportation and allows them to work. The status lasts for two years and can be renewed.

The Trump administration said the DACA program, which Obama authorized through executive action, was unlawful. But even if it was not, President Trump’s lawyers argued, the Department of Homeland Security has the right to terminate it.

Lower courts disagreed. They said the administration must provide other legitimate reasons for the action, because it has offered the protection to those undocumented immigrants who volunteered information about their status.

The consolidated cases are Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California, Trump v. NAACP and McAleenan v. Vidal.

people walking in front of a building: A group rallies outside the Supreme Court in Washington in anticipation of a decision on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) case.© Shawn Thew/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock A group rallies outside the Supreme Court in Washington in anticipation of a decision on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) case.

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