Sotomayor at DACA Oral Arguments: ‘This Is About Our Choice to Destroy Lives’

During oral arguments at the United States Supreme Court Tuesday on he future of the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty program, Justice Sonia Sotomayor injected politics into the discussion, saying President Donald Trump has said he would find a way to keep DACA recipients in the United States but has not done so.

Sotomayor also addressed what other justices cited — the “reliance interests” of DACA recipients, or how the government program has allowed illegal migrants to get Social Security numbers, drivers licenses, and work permits that they have come to rely on.

Sotomayor said:

I think my colleagues have rightly pointed [out] there’s a whole lot of reliance interests that weren’t looked at, including the very President of — current President telling DACA-eligible people that they were safe under him and that he would find a way to keep them here. And so he hasn’t and, instead, he’s done this. And that, I think, has something to be considered before you rescind a policy.

“Right,” Solicitor General Noel Francisco said.

DOJ Busts Massive International Sham Marriage Scheme, 1,000 Weddings to ‘Fraudulently Obtain Immigration Status’

FBI ran secret operation to extinguish Biden family foreign influence scandal: Declassified documents

Fox News Poll: New matchup, same result: Maine Senate race stays locked

Here’s who could replace White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt

New York Social Services Worker Charged With Issuing Multiple Benefit Cards to Herself

Hasan Piker cheers Mamdani aide going ‘beast mode’ with ‘impoverish the White middle-class’ remark

Deadly military helicopter crash in Texas kills 2, sparks wildfire and forces evacuations: officials

DOJ makes first arrest in Southern Poverty Law Center fraud case

Alex Murdaugh’s ‘Charleston or bust’ prayer shot down by prosecutors in fight over ‘Holy City’ retrial

Trump says Karoline Leavitt will leave White House press secretary role, become outside advisor

Former SPLC official arrested as feds expand case over alleged $4M scheme involving extremist groups

Former SPLC Exec Arrested on Fraud Charges Connected to KKK Relationship

DOJ charges 11 in alleged decadelong sham marriage scheme involving Chinese nationals

Report: Russia Is Giving China ‘Incredibly Important’ Military Technology to Use Against US

Trump’s dead ‘anti-weaponization fund’ comes back to life in Georgia Senate race

“Not just say I’ll give you six months to do it,” Sotomayer said, referring to Trump’s past announcement that he would hold off on rescinding DACA for six months to allow Congress to come up with a legislative solution.

“And where is the political decision made clearly?” Sotomayor said referring to the June 22, 2018 memorandum issued by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to explain why the department was rescinding DACA.

“That this is not about the law; this is about our choice to destroy lives,” Sotomayor said, directly expressing what she believed a ruling to end DACA would mean to those enrolled in it.

The back and forth between the justices, Francisco and two attorneys who argued for DACA petitioners — attorney Ted Olson and Michael Mongan, Solicitor General at California Department of Justice – included more discussion about the impact the ruling would have on both DACA recipients and the future enforcement of federal immigration law.

Olson and Mongan argued that the Trump administration did not provide a compelling reason for rescinding DACA, which came to the high court after differing results in lower court decisions on the matter.