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.

Hard to Read: Lesbian Couple Facing 1st Degree Murder Charge After Foster Son Found Dying in Horrific State – Their Nickname for Him Was Evil

Chick-Fil-A Under Fire After Betraying Loyal Customers with Shockingly Woke Statement

State-level AI rules survive — for now — as Senate sinks moratorium despite White House pressure

Democrats reveal whether they believe US citizens or drug boat traffickers are more important

Detained illegal immigrants will face $5K ‘apprehension fee’: Border Patrol chief

DHS fires back after Dem lawmaker claims she was ‘pushed aside and pepper sprayed’ during ICE raid

Texas AG Paxton sues EPIC City developers after probe finds alleged fraud, misleading Muslim-only marketing

Tim Walz slams Trump for calling Minnesota’s Somali community ‘garbage’: ‘Unprecedented’

Trump signs off on nationwide vaccine schedule review as CDC withdraws infant Hep B guidance: ‘Fast track’

Two arrested after dozens of guns, including ‘cop-killer’ model, found in spare tire at southern border: DPS

Pastor Says Barron Trump Is ‘Very Close to Putting His Faith in Christ’ After Lengthy Conversation

88-year-old Army veteran working at grocery store receives over $1.7M in donations after viral video

ICE arrests Azerbaijani national with multiple criminal convictions, including animal cruelty, arson

JetBlue Plane That Abruptly Lost Altitude and Made Emergency Landing Likely Hit by Cosmic Ray: Expert

JD Vance Responds as Media Seeks to Stoke Controversy Over His Wife’s Wedding Ring

“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.