DACA on the docket for Supreme Court

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - Forever embedded in American democracy by the founders, the Supreme Court of the United States is quite simply the "guardian of our constitution" and the final arbiter of the rules under which our society functions.

On the next Supreme Court docket will be a review of President Trump's decision to terminate the Obama-era program known as DACA - Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Congress remains in partisan deadlock on the issue, with no legislative breakthrough likely. Those seeking relief for "the Dreamers" claim DACA reflects our nation's commitment to help hardworking people and create opportunities for a new generation.

This week's panel Chris Tritico, FOX 26 legal analyst; Michelle Byington, conservative attorney; Craig Jackson, Professor, TSU Thurgood Marshall School of Law; Bob Price, Associate Editor of Breitbart Texas; Carmen Roe, Houston attorney; Judge Eric Andell, "Three Amigos" KSEV Radio discusses what fate might be determined for more than 700,000 undocumented young people living in America

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - May 17, 2019 A federal appeals court ruled the Trump administration acted in an "arbitrary and capricious" manner when it sought to end an Obama-era program that shields young immigrants from deportation.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2 to 1 that the Trump administration violated federal law when it tried to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program without adequately explaining why. The ruling overturns a lower court ruling a judge in Maryland made last year, which Trump had previously praised via Twitter.

Friday's ruling will not have any immediate effect as other federal courts have already ordered that DACA be kept in place.

The 4th Circuit ruling said the Department of Homeland Security did not "adequately account" for how ending DACA program would affect the hundreds of thousands of young people who "structured their lives" around the program.

"We recognize the struggle is not over and there are more battles to fight in the Supreme Court on this road to justice, but our families are emboldened by knowing that they are on the right side of history," said Gustavo Torres, executive director of Casa de Maryland, the lead plaintiff in the case.

Trump and his Justice Department have argued that the Obama administration acted unlawfully when it implemented DACA. The Justice Department declined to comment.

Preserving DACA is a top Democratic priority, but discussions between Trump and Democrats on the issue have gone nowhere.

Trump's latest immigration plan, unveiled Thursday, does not address what to do about the hundreds of thousands of young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters that "every single time that we have put forward or anyone else has put forward any type of immigration plan that has included DACA it's failed."

DACA's fate could be decided by the Supreme Court, which is weighing the Trump administration's appeals of other federal court rulings.

The justices have set no date to take action.

If the high court decides it wants to hear the appeals, arguments would not take place before the fall. That means a decision is not expected until 2020, which could come in the thick of next year's presidential contest.

___

Associated Press writer Mark Sherman in Washington contributed to this report.