President Trump signaled on Friday morning that the administration will attempt to rescind the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Trump Administration’s 2017 rescission of the policy was “arbitrary and capricious.” Ultimately, the high court determined that the Trump Administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by rescinding the policy, but the possibility of ending the program is still on the table.
The controversy surrounding DACA is mostly unrelated to the policy itself, but rather in the way that former President Obama implemented the program unilaterally without congressional authorization. President Trump has sought to legislate DACA properly during his first-term, but Nancy Pelosi, while leading the Democratic minority in the House, refused to negotiate with Republicans in 2018. The president called the Supreme Court's decision a "political one" and called for a solution "consistent with the rule of law:"
The DACA decision, while a highly political one, and seemingly not based on the law, gives the President of the United States far more power than EVER anticipated. Nevertheless, I will only act in the best interests of the United States of America!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020
As President of the United States, I am asking for a legal solution on DACA, not a political one, consistent with the rule of law. The Supreme Court is not willing to give us one, so now we have to start this process all over again.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020
...ruling & request of yesterday. I have wanted to take care of DACA recipients better than the Do Nothing Democrats, but for two years they refused to negotiate - They have abandoned DACA. Based on the decision the Dems can’t make DACA citizens. They gained nothing! @DHSgov
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 19, 2020
The Supreme Court’s ruling is not a permanent solution, and Congress will be forced to legislate DACA in good faith eventually, as the president hopes for.