Supreme Court DACA decision looms

The fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy is in the hands of the Supreme Court.  As the end of the Term nears, eyes are on the Court for a decision.  Arizona Public Media, an NPR affiliate, interviewed me on the DACA case.  DACA, which offers limited relief to young undocumented immigrants, promises to be one of the most significant immigration decisions in years. 

Despite years of debate, Congress has been unable to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation addressing fundamental questions, such as whether to provide durable legal status to the approximately eleven million undocumented immigrants living in the United States.  In lieu of major reform, the Obama administration in 2012 announced DACA which provided limited — and temporary — relief to hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.

Consistent with the cornerstone of his presidential campaign of aggressive immigration enforcement, Donald Trump promised to dismantle DACA.  His administration later announced the end of the policy, thereby provoking controversy, protests, and legal challenges.  Several lower courts enjoined the attempted rescission eventually made their way to the Supreme Court. 

DACA has emerged as representing something beyond the mere extension of a limited form of relief to young undocumented immigrants.  It today is front-and-center in the contemporary debate over immigration reform and a call for nothing less than simple justice for immigrants.  Against this backdrop, the pending Supreme Court decision in the DACA case takes on considerable political significance beyond its legal significance.

KJ