US Supreme Court Briefly Stops Trump Gov from Ending DACA
Yesterday, June 18, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court decided, in a 5-4 decision with Chief Justice John Roberts casting the deciding vote and writing the majority opinion, that the Trump Administration has the authority to cancel the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) program, but that it violated the rights of DACA recipients and the Administrative Procedure Act, the federal law governing administrative agencies, because the Trump Administration, acting through the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), did not give a proper justification for ending the program. The Trump Administration did not want to take responsibility for its decision to end DACA, and so it claimed that it did not want to end the DACA program, but that its hands were tied because Federal Courts had determined that DACA was illegal. The U.S. Supreme Court effectively sent the message to the Trump Administration that it has the authority to end the DACA program, but that it has to take responsibility for its decision and it cannot just hide behind the Federal Courts.
The practical and legal effect of the decision is that DACA will continue for as long as it takes for the Trump Administration to go through the proper procedure, in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, to end the DACA program. In practice, this will probably take past the end of President Trump’s current term in office. Also, Chief Justice Roberts’ opinion pointed out that the DHS’s decision to cancel DACA “might have considered more accommodating termination dates” for DACA recipients who were in the middle of, for example, academic programs, military service or medical treatment. In other words, the U.S. Supreme Court stated its view that DHS should not terminate DACA in an abrupt way that does not take into consideration important life situations that DACA recipients might be in and harmful effects that the abrupt end of the DACA program would have on the life of the DACA recipient, who had reasonably relied on the continued existence of the DACA program and the protection from deportation, ability to work, and ability to study, which DACA has afforded recipients for the past 8 years. This means that DHS would also be wise to consider showing DACA recipients some flexibility with the ending dates, since the U.S. Supreme Court provided guidance that such consideration should be shown for DACA recipients in order not to be viewed as violating the rights of DACA recipients, who had reasonably relied on the continued existence of the DACA program, for instance, at least through the end of their current extension period or the extension period for which they might currently be applying.
It is safe to conclude that DACA recipients can continue to apply for renewal of their DACA status for the foreseeable future, since it will most likely take into the next presidential term, whether the next U.S. President is Trump or Biden, until the fate of the DACA program is ultimately decided. Based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s guidance to the Trump Administration, DACA recipients will likely be able to receive the benefit of the full remaining period of their DACA status, and possibly of the extension period if they will be applying for extension in the coming months.
If you would like to see the actual decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, please click here.
If you currently have DACA and would like assistance with renewal, please contact us, since we have extensive experience with DACA extensions.