Brianna Estrada
Staff Writer
On June 18 the Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration’s attempt to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.
This was a decision that hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients, known as Dreamers, across the nation have been anxiously awaiting.
Since its inception in 2012, DACA has protected young, undocumented immigrants from deportation and allowed them to work and get an education. But in 2017 President Donald Trump announced his plans to phase out DACA, putting plans in limbo for almost 700,000 Dreamers.
After nearly four years of uncertainty, the Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 ruling in support of the program.
Despite there being a conservative majority on the bench, Chief Justice John Roberts’ vote swung the results. Roberts delivered the court opinion.
“We do not decide whether DACA or its rescission are sound policies,” Roberts wrote. “The wisdom of those decisions is none of our concern. Here we address only whether the Administration complied with the procedural requirements in the law that insist on a reasoned explanation for its action.”
Roberts wrote that ultimately the Trump administration’s decision to end the program “was arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedure Act.
The Supreme Court’s decision was met with widespread approval from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate, released a statement saying, “The Supreme Court’s ruling today is a victory made possible by the courage and resilience of hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients who bravely stood up and refused to be ignored.”
Despite this victory, the future of DACA is still not secure. Though the Supreme Court’s decision was able to extend the program’s life for a period of time, it is still possible that DACA may be terminated, said Los Angeles immigration lawyer Joshua Effron.
“So what all of this means is that, in the Court’s view, DACA may indeed,be rescinded so long as the proper procedure is followed,” Effron said. “The Department of Homeland Security may again try to rescind DACA, only this time, following the procedure that the Supreme Court set forth in its decision.”
This is something that Trump is already considering. Following the announcement of the court’s ruling, Trump expressed his displeasure with the court’s decision. In a tweet, Trump blasted the court, calling their ruling “horrible and politically charged.”
“I am asking for a legal solution on DACA,” Trump tweeted. “The Supreme Court is not willing to give us one, so now we have to start this process all over again.”
Brianna Estrada can be reached at brianna.estrada@laverne.edu.
