The US Supreme Court ruled yesterday to allow hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the US to keep their status
The court rejected an attempt by the Trump administration to stop the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme (“DACA”) which had been implemented during his predecessor’s time in office.
DACA gives persons who were brought to the US as children the right to live and work in that country legally by providing them with a shield from deportation and access to work permits. It is thought that up to 640,000 persons may be affected by the ruling.
The judgement of the court found that the Department of Homeland Security had violated federal administrative law with its move to end DACA. Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the 5-4 decision, said that while the president has the power to end the programme, he had failed to provide an adequate rationale for doing so, and by attempting to end the scheme as he had in September 2017 he had acted in a manner that was arbitrary and capricious.
