Supreme Court Rules Trump Administration Cannot End DACA

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Trump administration cannot end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The decision will be seen as a major victory for ‘Dreamers’ and a huge blow to President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.

The justices ruled 5 to 4 with Chief Justice John Roberts joining the liberals. He called the government’s actions ‘arbitrary and capricious’ in the majority opinion, but pointed out the court was not passing judgement on the validity of DACA as a program.

“We address only whether the agency complied with the procedural requirement that it provide a reasoned explanation for its action. Here the agency failed to consider the conspicuous issues of whether to retain forbearance and what if anything to do about the hardship to DACA recipients,” Roberts wrote.

The Court ruled that the government had not given an adequate justification for ending the program, which has let around 800,000 young migrants avoid deportation. The issue is a particular bugbear for conservatives and immigration hawks.

However, it may be possible for the Trump administration to try again, offering a different or more concrete justification for ending the program. However, in a contentious election year and worsening poll numbers for the President, Republicans may not want such a fight.