Judge John D. Bates of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia upheld his previous order to bring back the Obama-era program, stating that the Trump administration had not justified its elimination.
In April, Judge Bates had ruled that the DACA program must be restored and that the administration must accept new applications. The program shields roughly 700,000 young immigrants from deportation. Judge Bates stayed his decision for 90 days to give the Department of Homeland Security the opportunity to show its reasons for ending the program.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen argued that her department had the discretion to end the program, just as the department under the previous administration had the discretion to create it. Judge Bates called the shutdown “arbitrary and capricious” and said that Secretary Nielsen did not “elaborate meaningfully” on the department’s reasoning for its decision.
Additional Resources
Judge Upholds Order for Trump Administration to Restore DACA, The New York Times, August 3, 2018
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