A federal judge reaffirmed his order that the Trump administration must resume the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program Friday, siding with Microsoft and Princeton University in a lawsuit they brought in November.
Washington, D.C., District Judge John Bates upheld his previous ruling that the Department of Homeland Security failed to give a rational explanation for the “arbitrary and capricious” decision to end DACA. The ruling issued Friday denies DHS’s motion to reverse the decision and gives the federal government 20 days to decide whether or not to appeal before resuming the program.
Bates’ original ruling required the Trump administration to continue accepting renewals for DACA within 90 days. During that period, DHS had the opportunity to make a stronger case for the decision to rescind DACA. That 90-day period expired this week and Bates ruled that DHS failed “to elaborate meaningfully on the agency’s primary rationale for its decision: the judgment that the policy was unlawful and unconstitutional.”
The ruling Bates issued Friday doesn’t claim that rescinding DACA is outside of DHS’s authority. Instead, the court says that DHS has failed to give a rational explanation for the decision to end the program. Two other courts have also struck down the government’s decision to end DACA. The Supreme Court has declined to hear the case.
Last September, the Trump administration moved to rescind DACA, a program that allowed approximately 800,000 immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children to attend school and work in the country. Microsoft has been an outspoken advocate for DACA recipients, known as Dreamers.
“A lasting solution for Dreamers has become an economic imperative and a humanitarian necessity,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith in a statement Friday. “We hope today’s decision will encourage the nation’s leaders to work together before the end of the year to address the uncertainty Dreamers have been living with for almost a year. Dreamers grew up in this country, attended our schools, pay taxes and contribute to our communities. They deserve bipartisan action by Congress.”
Bates Upholds DACA Decision by GeekWire on Scribd
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