On June 18, 2020, a narrowly divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that President Donald Trump’s administration failed to provide a “reasonable explanation” for unilaterally ending the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA provides some individuals who are unlawfully in the United States, after being brought to the U.S. as children, a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and the ability become eligible for a work permit in the U.S.
Chief Justice John Roberts was considered the swing vote in the decision. Justice Roberts wrote in the majority opinion that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Trump Administration did not adequately consider the impact on the DACA recipients themselves and the potential hardships for approximately 700,000 young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children by their parents.
DHS can attempt to end DACA again, Roberts affirmed; however, they must reconsider their position and offer a more detailed explanation for doing so.