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.

LeBron’s Friend and Head Coach Eviscerates His Team After Christmas Meltdown: ‘Don’t Care Enough to Be a Professional’

Leftist Celebrity Scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson Gets Roasted After He Tries to Debunk Timeless Tale of Rudolph on Christmas Eve

‘Perception vs. reality’: Trump’s economy picks up speed — but voters aren’t buying it yet

Trump and former Fulton County codefendants plan to hold Fani Willis to ‘maximum legal accountability’

Nude burglar arrested on Christmas night after allegedly breaking into two luxury Florida homes

Former Florida law enforcement officer accused of forcing 6-year-old underwater in hotel pool: report

California family revives beloved Christmas tradition with surprise sleepover visit

$220 Million Green Bay Packers Star Sparks Controversy After Christmas Gifting Revelation

Trump to Meet Zelenskyy at Mar-a-Lago ‘to Work Out Issues as Much as Possible’

MAHA Hits Roadblock After Obama Judge Sides with Conglomeration of Food Dye Corporations

Christmas Tragedy: Grandfather Dies After Gruesome ‘Freak Accident’ at McDonald’s

Trump reveals potential Kennedy Center marble armrests ‘unlike anything ever done or seen before’

Cowardly Scum: Man Kills Himself After Shooting His Family Over NFL Dispute

Tiny Pacific nation to take up to 75 deportees as Trump administration accelerates mass removals

Misspelled learning center, no children inside: Emmer presses Walz over Minnesota daycare tied to $4M

“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.