On Tuesday, July 28, 2020, the Trump Administration announced a plan to limit the use of DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Faced with a rejection by the U.S. Supreme Court to end the program, they are now attempting to restrict it. The Tuesday announcement said they would reject any new applicants and limit renewals to one year instead of two years.

 

On July 18, by a vote of 5 to 4, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Trump Administration’s attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The majority opinion said, “We do not decide whether DACA or its rescission are sound policies. “The wisdom” of those decisions “is none of our concern. We address only whether the agency complied with the procedural requirement that it provide a reasoned explanation for its action. Here the agency failed to consider the conspicuous issues of whether to retain forbearance and what if anything to do about the hardship to DACA recipients. That dual failure raises doubts about whether the agency appreciated the scope of its discretion or exercised that discretion in a reasonable manner. The appropriate recourse is therefore to remand to DHS so that it may consider the problem anew.”

 

The President had said their policy was under review after the Court ruling and hinted at another attempt to repeal it. Such an action would be politically risky weeks before the presidential election. According to acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, “DACA policy, at a minimum, presents serious policy concerns that may warrant its full rescission. At the same time, I have concluded that fully rescinding the policy would be a significant administration decision that warrants additional careful consideration.”

 

The announcement runs counter to a July ruling by U.S. District Court of Maryland Judge Paul Grimm that the White House must comply with the Supreme Court ruling to immediately begin accepting application because 5 to 4 decision restored DACA to its pre-September 5, 2017 status when the Trump Administration sought to end it.

 

Initially, 800,000 people qualified under the Obama E.O., and 689,000 were still covered when the Trump Administration announced its attempt to end it in 2017. It began its efforts to freeze intake and end the programs in September 2017.