Department of Homeland Security acting Secretary Chad Wolf knocked the Supreme Court’s decision Thursday that blocked the Trump administration from ending the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“DACA recipients deserve closure and finality surrounding their status here in the U.S. Unfortunately, today’s Supreme Court decision fails to provide that certainty,” Wolf said in a statement Thursday afternoon. “The DACA program was created out of thin air and implemented illegally. The American people deserve to have the Nation’s laws faithfully executed as written by their representatives in Congress—not based on the arbitrary decisions of a past Administration. This ruling usurps the clear authority of the Executive Branch to end unlawful programs.”
DACA shields nearly 700,000 young undocumented immigrants from deportation.
The Supreme Court rule 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the liberal justice. The court said that the Trump administration failed to give adequate justification for terminating DACA, a requirement that is required by federal law.
The court’s decision was a blow to conservative lawmakers and prompted President Trump to tweet, “we need NEW JUSTICES of the Supreme Court.”
He added: “If the Radical Left Democrats assume power, your Second Amendment, Right to Life, Secure Borders, and Religious Liberty, among many other things, are OVER and GONE!”
Trump has appointed two justices to the bench during his presidency: Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch. Most believe that his appointing of Kavanaugh and Gorsuch have shifted the court right, despite the court’s ruling Thursday.