Supreme Court appears inclined to let Trump end DACA program

A bare majority of the U.S. Supreme Court appeared likely Tuesday to let the Trump administration follow through on its plan to shut down DACA, the federal program that has allowed nearly 800,000 young people, known as dreamers, to avoid deportation and remain in the U.S.

With hundreds of DACA supporters rallying outside — so many that police shut down the street in front of the Supreme Court — the justices heard nearly an hour and a half of oral arguments. Based on their questions, it appeared that the court’s five conservatives were inclined to rule that the Department of Homeland Security acted properly when it ordered the program ended in 2017 and that the federal courts cannot second-guess that decision.

While Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh appeared likely to say DACA was properly shut down, Chief Justice John Roberts did not seem to be as strongly convinced. Roberts may be the deciding vote, just as it was last term when the court blocked the Trump administration from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census form. He concluded in that case that the government did not give an adequate explanation for its proposed action.

Lower court rulings have kept DACA going, allowing young people in the program to reapply every two years to remain under its protection. Children of undocumented immigrants can remain here if they were under 16 when their parents brought them to the U.S. and if they arrived by 2007.

Arguing for DACA’s defenders, Washington, D.C., lawyer Ted Olson said federal law requires the government to give a detailed explanation before taking an action that affects hundreds of thousands of people and the businesses that employ them.

It would be one thing, he said, “if they provided a rational explanation and took responsibility for their decision.” But instead, the Trump Justice Department simply said the program was illegal and therefore must be shut down.

The court’s conservatives suggested that the Trump administration’s decision to stop enforcing DACA is beyond the power of courts to review, as would be the case if a local prosecutor decided to stop enforcing laws against possessing small amounts of marijuana.

When Olson suggested ending DACA is different, because so many people are affected, Gorsuch said, “I can think of a large number of people who would be affected by a prosecutor’s exercise of discretion.”

Figures show that over 90 percent of DACA participants have a job. Nearly half are in school. Many don’t speak the language or know the culture of their home countries.

The case has attracted the interest of more than 100 businesses and trade groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which have urged the Supreme Court to allow DACA to continue.

A ruling in such a contentious case isn’t likely until the spring of 2020, assuring that DACA will figure in the presidential campaign.