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.

Indiana judge and wife allegedly shot by ‘high-ranking’ gang member facing trial in victim’s court

Judge who blasted Trump as ‘authoritarian’ blocks US from deporting pro-Palestinian campus activists

Surgeon accused of killing ex-wife and her dentist husband gets first look at Ohio court with legal defense

House Oversight Committee widens investigation into alleged Minnesota fraud

Republican National Committee Moves to Change Party Rules for Unprecedented Midterm Convention

DOJ Accepts Don Lemon’s Challenge as He Says ‘Keep Trying’ to Arrest Me

Iranian prosecutor denies canceling 800 executions as Trump claimed

House GOP slammed by conservatives for joining Dems on controversial ‘kill switch’ amendment

Trump keeps Macron under spotlight as Greenland talks grind forward from Davos

Dem. Rep. Melts down Over Boy, 5, Rescued by ICE – But Where Was She When Biden Left 300k Kids to Sex Trafficking and/or Abandonment?

She Hurt for Him: Priceless Video Shows Woman Behind Jack Smith Looking Like She’s in Physical Pain as GOP Reps Repeatedly Expose Him as Fraud

Trump Yanks ‘Prestigious’ Board of Peace Offer from Canada After War of Words at Davos

Venezuelan national accused of claiming control over Arizona community, threatening residents: report

Former Uvalde school officer says he doesn’t regret actions after not guilty verdict

J6 Cop Coughs Vulgar Curse to Republican Rep During Jack Smith Hearing

“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.