Sessions Vows to Appeal DACA Court Order
By Heather Ham-Warren | August 10, 2018
For the past year, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has been resurrected numerous times by activist judges. Nonetheless, the Trump administration has remained determined to sunset the program.
In April, Judge John Bates, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., called the government’s decision to end DACA “virtually unexplained” and therefore “unlawful.” In a shocking decision, the court determined that the administration must not only continue to allow the so-called “dreamers” to apply for renewal, but that it must also accept new applications. However, he stayed the ruling for 90 days to give the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the opportunity to provide additional reasoning for ending the program.
On Friday, Judge Bates ruled that the administration still had not demonstrated sufficient reasoning for winding down the program, and ordered the government to officially restart the DACA program on August 23rd. On Monday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions condemned the judge’s decision and announced his intention to appeal in an official statement:
“We strongly disagree with the district court’s decision on Friday in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) case. The executive branch’s authority to simply rescind a policy, established only by a letter from the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, is clearly established. The Department of Justice will take every lawful measure to vindicate the Department of Homeland Security’s lawful rescission of DACA…
“…We have recently witnessed a number of decisions in which courts have improperly used judicial power to steer, enjoin, modify, and direct executive policy. This ignores the wisdom of our Founders and transfers policy making questions from the constitutionally empowered and politically accountable branches to the judicial branch. It also improperly undermines this Administration’s ability to protect our nation, its borders, and its citizens. The Trump Administration and this Department of Justice will continue to aggressively defend the executive branch’s lawful authority and duty to ensure a lawful system of immigration for our country.”