Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Appeals Court Rules Against Trump on DACA Immigrant Policy
By admin
Published 6 years ago on
November 8, 2018

Share

SAN FRANCISCO — A U.S. appeals court blocked President Donald Trump on Thursday from immediately ending an Obama-era program shielding young immigrants from deportation, saying the administration’s decision was arbitrary because it was based on a flawed legal theory.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously kept a preliminary injunction in place against Trump’s decision to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Lawsuits by California and others challenging the administration’s decision will continue in federal court while the injunction remains in place.

The U.S. Supreme Court could eventually decide the fate of DACA, which has protected some 700,000 people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children or came with families that overstayed visas.

Court: Plaintiffs Likely to Succeed

In Thursday’s ruling, 9th Circuit Judge Kim Wardlaw said California and other plaintiffs were likely to succeed with their claim that the decision to end it was arbitrary and capricious.

She said the court was not trying to infringe on the president’s power to enforce immigration law but wanted to enable the exercise of that authority “in a manner that is free from legal misconceptions and is democratically accountable to the public.”

The Trump administration has said it moved to end the program last year because Texas and other states threatened to sue, raising the prospect of a chaotic end to DACA.

“It’s a question of an agency saying, ‘We’re not going to have a policy that might well be illegal. That is a perfectly rational thing to do.” — Deputy Assistant Attorney General Hashim Mooppan

An email to the U.S. Department of Justice was not immediately returned.

Trump’s decision to end DACA prompted lawsuits across the nation, including one by California. A judge overseeing that lawsuit and four others ruled against the administration and reinstated the program in January.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup rejected the argument that then-President Barack Obama had exceeded his power in creating DACA and said the Trump administration failed to consider the disruption that ending the program would cause.

The administration then asked the 9th Circuit to throw out Alsup’s ruling.

During a hearing in May, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Hashim Mooppan argued that the courts could not review the administration’s decision to end DACA and defended the move against assertions that it was arbitrary and capricious.

“It’s a question of an agency saying, ‘We’re not going to have a policy that might well be illegal,'” Mooppan told the judges. “That is a perfectly rational thing to do.”

Attempt to Sidestep 9th Circuit Court

Mooppan said the administration was under no obligation to consider the fact that people had come to rely on DACA.

The judges on the 9th Circuit panel appeared skeptical of the argument that the DACA decision was beyond the court’s authority to review.

Wardlaw noted at the previous hearing that another appeals court had reviewed a similar Obama administration immigration policy.

Judge Jacqueline Nguyen questioned the government’s contention that a DACA decision was beyond the authority of the court. She also disagreed with the argument that DACA isn’t legal.

The administration has been critical of the 9th Circuit and took the unusual step of trying to sidestep it and have the California DACA cases heard directly by the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court in February declined to do so.

Federal judges in New York and Washington also have ruled against Trump on DACA.

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

UP NEXT

Border Patrol Said It Targeted Known Criminals in Kern County. But It Had No Record on 77 of 78 Arrestees

Smittcamp Warns Fresno Supervisors About New Copper Theft Law. Bredefeld Wants to Take a Risk

8 hours ago

Border Patrol Said It Targeted Known Criminals in Kern County. But It Had No Record on 77 of 78 Arrestees

9 hours ago

‘World-Class Nightlife’: CA Lawmakers Try Again to Extend Last Call to 4 AM

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Enjoy closing down a California bar at 2 a.m.? By Yue St...

7 hours ago

7 hours ago

‘World-Class Nightlife’: CA Lawmakers Try Again to Extend Last Call to 4 AM

7 hours ago

Fresno County Passes Ordinance to Punish Copper Wire Thieves

8 hours ago

Fresno Native Denise Whisenhunt Returns Home to Lead City College

8 hours ago

Smittcamp Warns Fresno Supervisors About New Copper Theft Law. Bredefeld Wants to Take a Risk

Border Patrol Sgt. Gregory Bovino
9 hours ago

Border Patrol Said It Targeted Known Criminals in Kern County. But It Had No Record on 77 of 78 Arrestees

9 hours ago

Eyewitnesses Recount Deadly Israeli Attack on Medics in Gaza

9 hours ago

How High Will the Thermometer Climb This Week in Fresno?

10 hours ago

Visalia Man Admits to Selling Machine Guns to Undercover Agent

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend