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.

‘Fraudulent, Biased And Misleading’: Trump Rails Against NGO After It Put Out Bezos-Backed Climate Report

From locker rooms to Congress: Jay Feely latest athlete seeking to take lessons in leadership to Capitol Hill

Here’s what you missed from Trump’s first WHCA Dinner as president: 5 takeaways from his night with the press

Christian in Pakistan Killed by Muslim After Being Denied Drink of Water

2028, term limits, media tension: Everything Trump covered in wild marathon speech at the White House Press Correspondents’ Association dinner

Trump spares no one at WHCA dinner, taking aim at Dems, press and his own Cabinet

Gretchen Whitmer endorses moderate Haley Stevens in tight upcoming Senate primary

Trump orders signs outside Smithsonian museum amid row over its depiction of American history

California trans suspect arrested in mother’s killing after neighbor recalls heated argument

House Republicans confront NJ governor over 6,600 noncitizens registered to vote in alleged software failure

Illegal immigrant who killed Nashville restaurant owner to face ICE deportation after prison

Jon Bon Jovi Abruptly Ends Madison Square Garden Show: ‘I’m Gonna Have to Cool It’

White House Moves to ‘Restore Trust’ in Smithsonian Institution

Sophie Cunningham’s New Shoes Sell Out in Hours After Her Stand Against Wokeness

White House Correspondents’ Association dinner do-over features enhanced security measures, smaller crowd

“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.