DOJ to Supreme Court: Trump decision to end DACA was lawful
{mosads}The case under review by the Supreme Court is about the legality of the president’s order to end DACA, not the legality of the Obama-era program that allows hundreds of thousands of so-called Dreamers — undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as minors — to temporarily live and work in the United States without risk of deportation.
Trump in 2017 prompted litigation with his order to strip the benefits granted to Dreamers by his predecessor.
Francisco panned that decision by the appeals court, arguing the Nielsen memo, and an earlier one by then-acting DHS Secretary Elaine Duke, “make clear that DHS’s decision also rests on policy grounds.”
“These cases concern the Executive Branch’s authority to revoke a discretionary policy of nonenforcement that is sanctioning an ongoing violation of federal immigration law by nearly 700,000 aliens,” Francisco wrote in Monday’s filing.
DACA proponents argue the program has been successful, protecting beneficiaries who have paid fees, passed background checks and entrusted the federal government with their biometric information.
“The DACA program has been incredibly successful, and the Supreme Court should reject these unlawful efforts to terminate this program, separate nearly 700,000 DACA recipients from their families, and deport them,” said FWD.us President Todd Schulte.
Francisco also made an argument for the illegality of DACA, attacking a program that’s been upheld by court review.
Immigration activists criticized Francisco’s filing, which they view as a further attempt by the administration to repeal the immigration program.
“Today’s filing makes clear that the Administration continues to take every step possible to rip protections away from DACA recipients who know no other home than the United States,” said Schulte. “Federal courts across the country have repeatedly made clear that the Trump Administration’s termination of DACA was unlawful.”
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.