A Supreme Court ruling has given the over 800,000 immigrants a chance to continue staying in the US. The Trump administration was trying to overturn the Obama era legislation that would have made it easier to deport children of immigrants who came to the US illegally.
Almost eight years ago to the date, the Obama Administration passed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) legislation that allowed children of immigrants who came to the US ineligible for deportation.
DACA became one of the most contentious legislation in the Obama Administration and was heavily criticized by Trump during the 2016 elections, with Trump vowing that if he got elected, he would repeal the legislation. Three and a half years into the Trump Administration, the goal of doing away with legislation has culminated in a defeat in the Supreme court, in a ruling that saw Chief Justice John Roberts becoming the swing vote.
The Supreme Court ruling
The voting ended 5 against abolishing DACA and 4 approving that the legislation should be done away with. This was a big legal defeat to President Trump and a delay in his immigration policy.
In justifying his decision, Justice Roberts wrote that the government had failed to come up with a good reason why the legislation should be voided. He also indicated that, although it was within the president’s power to revoke the legislation, Trump’s Administration’s methodology of abolishing the legislation did not follow the right procedures.
The protection can still be overturned
Roberts, however, indicated that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had a path if they wanted to abolish the law. He continued by saying the DHS could reconsider the problem a new and find the legal problems that led to the case being dismissed in the Supreme court.
Upon ruling, the over 800,000 immigrants and their families celebrated the decision that would have seen them deported from the country they grew in. Democrats also acknowledged that the ruling was a step forward in protecting dreamers who have grown the US and have only known the US as their home. Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, commended the ruling and pointed out that it was made possible by the hundreds of thousands of DACA families that stood up for their rights and challenged their deportation in the supreme court.
Trump reaction
Trump, on the other hand, was not pleased with the ruling, making his feelings known in a tweet that accused the supreme court ruling as having been politically motivated.
These horrible & politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives. We need more Justices or we will lose our 2nd. Amendment & everything else. Vote Trump 2020!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020
He continued by saying that he had been let down by the conservative Supreme Court Justices, who in the past two days have ruled on both the LGBTQ+ and the DACA legislation. In a tweet, he indicated that he would compile a new list of Supreme Court Justices that he would push to the Supreme Court if elected to ensure conservative plights are taken care of.
I will be releasing a new list of Conservative Supreme Court Justice nominees, which may include some, or many of those already on the list, by September 1, 2020. If given the opportunity, I will only choose from this list, as in the past, a Conservative Supreme Court Justice…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020
The ruling is expected to be a relief to the hundreds of immigrants who were worried that if it was passed to law, they would end up being deported. For now, the Supreme Court ruling was a big victory for Dreamers.
Featured image by Pixabay
