{"id":86750,"date":"2020-06-19T06:04:58","date_gmt":"2020-06-19T11:04:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/?p=86750"},"modified":"2020-06-19T06:04:58","modified_gmt":"2020-06-19T11:04:58","slug":"auto-draft-42","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/2020\/06\/19\/auto-draft-42\/","title":{"rendered":"US High Court Blocks Trump Bid to End Program for Undocumented Immigrants"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"VOA \u2014 WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday<\/a> blocked the Trump administration\u2019s yearslong effort to end a program that protects from deportation hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.<\/p>\n

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The surprise 5-4 ruling, written by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by the court\u2019s four liberal justices, means the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, will remain in place for the foreseeable future, allowing 700,000 undocumented immigrants to live and work in the United States.<\/p>\n

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\"Deferred<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient Roberto Martinez, left, celebrates with other DACA recipients in front of the Supreme Court on June 18, 2020, in Washington.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The program was created in 2012 through an executive order issued by then-President Barack Obama. DACA recipients, known as \u201cDreamers\u201d and mostly from Mexico and Central America, are allowed to receive benefits such as health insurance and driver\u2019s licenses.<\/p>\n

But President Donald Trump, who campaigned on ending DACA and illegal immigration to the country, directed the Department of Homeland Security in 2017 to phase out the program, calling it unlawful. Legal challenges to the decision to end DACA were upheld by federal courts in several states, prompting the administration\u2019s appeal to the high court.<\/p>\n

Inadequate rationale<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rather than determining the legality of DACA, the Supreme Court ruled that the administration failed to offer an adequate rationale for shutting down the program. That means the issue will be sent back to the Department of Homeland Security, which would have to offer a different justification if it chooses to take another stab at shutting down the program.<\/p>\n

Writing for the majority, Roberts said the administration\u2019s decision violated the federal law that governs administrative agencies and failed to consider DACA recipients\u2019 rights to protection from deportation.<\/p>\n

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\"Senate<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, center, celebrates with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients and supporters in front of the Supreme Court, June 18, 2020, in Washington.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“We do not decide if DACA or its rescission are sound policies. We address only whether the agency complied with the procedural requirement that it supply reasoned explanation for its action,\u201d Roberts wrote.<\/p>\n

In a dissenting opinion joined by two fellow conservative justices, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the administration\u2019s decision to terminate DACA was not illegal.<\/p>\n

“Today’s decision must be recognized for what it is: an effort to avoid a politically controversial but legally correct decision,” Thomas wrote.<\/p>\n

‘Delay’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, one of two Trump appointees on the bench, issued a separate dissent, writing that the \u201conly practical consequence\u201d of the court\u2019s decision \u201cappears to be some delay.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf criticized the court\u2019s decision but did not indicate whether his department would reconsider the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cDACA recipients deserve closure and finality surrounding their status here in the U.S.,\u201d Wolf said. \u201cUnfortunately, today\u2019s Supreme Court decision fails to provide that certainty.”<\/p>\n

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\"FILE<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>
FILE – U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts listens as President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 30, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thursday’s decision was the second time in nearly a year that Roberts and the four liberal justices have ruled against a controversial Trump administration policy. Last year, the court forced the administration to back off plans to add a citizenship question on the 2020 census.<\/p>\n

Criticizing the court\u2019s decision as \u201chighly political,\u201d Trump wrote on Twitter that he wanted a \u201clegal solution on DACA,\u201d and that in light of the ruling, \u201cwe have to start this process all over again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d Trump tweeted. \u201cNevertheless, I will only act in the best interests of the United States of America!\u201d<\/p>\n

‘Horrible’ rulings<\/strong><\/p>\n

Slamming the Supreme Court\u2019s rulings against his administration as \u201chorrible & politically charged,\u201d Trump, who often brags about appointing conservative federal judges, wrote, \u201cWe need more Justices or we will lose our 2nd. Amendment & everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

The American Civil Liberties Union applauded the ruling.<\/p>\n

“The Supreme Court rightly ruled in favor of over 700,000 citizens in waiting, their families, and our country’s future. The courts and the American people agree: It’s time for President Trump and [adviser] Stephen Miller to end their crusade against Dreamers and immigrants writ large,” Andrea Flores, the ACLU’s deputy director of immigration policy, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

In a post on Twitter, Obama praised the ruling, saying, “Eight years ago this week, we protected young people who were raised as part of our American family from deportation. Today, I’m happy for them, their families, and all of us. We may look different and come from everywhere, but what makes us American are our shared ideals.”<\/p>\n

Anxious DACA recipients reacted with shock and relief to the news.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m stunned,\u201d said Jirayuth Latthivongskorn, a DACA recipient and one of the plaintiffs in the three consolidated lawsuits heard by the Supreme Court. \u201cAnd I\u2019m trying to process all of this and what it means to me personally, to thousands of people, to the immigration rights movement in the U.S. because this is the first major victory, at this level, since Trump became president.\u201d<\/p>\n

Latthivongskorn, 30, came to the United States from Thailand in 1999, two years after his parents moved to California, found work in restaurants and overstayed their visas. \u00a0California is home to nearly 190,000 DACA recipients, according to Center for American Progress.<\/p>\n

In 2012, Latthivongskorn applied for DACA protection. \u00a0He attended two prestigious universities \u2013 University of California at Berkeley and Harvard University \u2013 before receiving his medical degree from USFC Medical School as the first undocumented immigrant in the school\u2019s 155-year history.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got the DACA program because we fought for it and we won today because we fought for it in the past few years,\u201d Latthivongskorn said. \u00a0\u201cEven just a few months ago, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that thousands or tens of thousands of DACA recipients are essential workers. They are farm workers. They work in groceries stores. They are doctors, nurses and paramedics.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Center for American Progress, more than 200,000 DACA recipients have worked on the front lines of the response to the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

VOA Thai Service\u2019s Warangkana Chomchuen contributed to this article.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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