Thomas slams Supremes' DACA ruling; Trump unswayed

FPI / June 21, 2020

Despite a setback in the Supreme Court on Thursday, President Donald Trump has vowed to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts joined with the court's liberal wing in a 5-4 decision to block Trump’s cancellation of the amnesty program, even though the court admitted that Trump has the power to end it.

The majority opinion, led by Roberts, said the Trump administration's 2017 process to end DACA was inadequate, and they also said that a more extensive and detailed process in 2018 could not be considered in their judicial review of the cancellation.

Trump said he will restart the process of ending DACA, a program President Barack Obama started via executive order which gave amnesty to 700,000 illegal immigrants.

“As President of the United States, I am asking for a legal solution on DACA, not a political one, consistent with the rule of law,” Trump tweeted on Thursday. “The Supreme Court is not willing to give us one, so now we have to start this process all over again.”

Trump added: "The [court’s] DACA decision, while a highly political one, and seemingly not based on the law, gives the President of the United States far more power than EVER anticipated. Nevertheless, I will only act in the best interests of the United States of America!"

Analysts noted that the court remained silent on many critical questions on the issue. Roberts and the court's liberal wing "did not explain whether Obama’s award of work permits was illegal, or if Obama’s deputies had justified correctly their decision to help illegals amid the post-2008 recession, or what steps Trump’s deputies should take to redo the process," Breitbart News noted.

In their dissent, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samual Alito, and Neil Gorsuch noted:“The majority’s holding creates perverse incentives, particularly for outgoing administrations,”

The dissenting justices added: "Under the auspices of today’s decision, administrations can bind their successors by unlawfully adopting significant legal changes through Executive Branch agency memoranda. Even if the agency lacked authority to effectuate the changes, the changes cannot be undone by the same agency in a successor administration unless the successor provides sufficient policy justifications to the satisfaction of this Court.

"In other words, the majority erroneously holds that the agency is not only permitted, but required, to continue administering unlawful programs that it inherited from a previous administration."

Thomas wrote: "Today’s decision must be recognized for what it is: an effort to avoid a politically controversial but legally correct decision. The Court could have made clear that the solution respondents seek must come from the Legislative Branch. Instead, the majority has decided to prolong DHS’ initial overreach by providing a stopgap measure of its own. In doing so, it has given the green light for future political battles to be fought in this Court rather than where they rightfully belong—the political branches. Such timidity forsakes the Court’s duty to apply the law according to neutral principles, and the ripple effects of the majority’s error will be felt throughout our system of self-government."

Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, delivered a scathing rebuke of Roberts during a Senate floor speech on Thursday.

“Judging is not a game. It’s not supposed to be a game but sadly over recent years more and more, Chief Justice Roberts has been playing games with the court to achieve the policy outcomes he desires,” Cruz said.



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