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.

The Fentanyl Crisis May Be Coming to an End But Kratom Is Ready to Take It’s Place

Video Puts US Military Power on Full Display, Shows Total Missile-Strike Destruction of Iran Tankers

Four Wisconsin cops injured after suspected drunk driver barrels toward crowd, sparks police chase

Ohio man convicted after trying to shoot ex-wife at point-blank range inside restaurant in chilling video

Cruz faces rowdy crowd at College GameDay while promoting the Protect College Sports Act

‘Just Because They Hated Guns’: Trump Pardons Sailor Biden’s ATF Put Away for 20 Years Over a Toy Gun

Dem handlers lash out when Ramaswamy staffer confronts their boss about debate: ‘No pictures’

Blue state governor’s pardon of convicted felon torpedos a major Supreme Court immigration fight

Trump says a united Ireland would be ‘fantastic’

This Couple Trapped Children in a Trailer for Years: Now Florida Is Seeking the Death Penalty

The one line from JD Vance’s GOP keynote that reveals his vision for America

Abdul El-Sayed touts ‘whole a–’ medical credentials while defending sex changes for children

God Took Me from Deformity, a Basement, and Agoraphobia to the Atlanta Hawks Locker Room

Any ‘Iran Deal’ Must Include Justice for American Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism

Liberal Donors, Corporate Interests Conspire to Help Left-Leaning Republicans in Deep Red Wyoming

“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.