Trump vows to renew administration’s efforts to disband young migrant protections following Supreme Court ruling

A 5-4 ruling on Thursday temporarily blocks disbanding DACA

Donald Trump said the Supreme Court 'punted' the decision back to his administration over DACA (Getty)

Donald Trump has vowed to renew his administration’s efforts to disband young migrant protections following a monumental Supreme Court ruling.

The president announced his administration’s intentions in a tweet on Friday, just one day after the 5-4 ruling from the Supreme Court temporarily blocked disbanding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme.

“The Supreme Court asked us to resubmit on DACA, nothing was lost or won. They ‘punted’, much like in a football game (where hopefully they would stand for our great American Flag). We will be submitting enhanced papers shortly in order to properly fulfil the Supreme Court’s ruling & request of yesterday,” he wrote.

Mr Trump went on to say he wanted to “take care of DACA recipients” but was met with trouble from the Democrats.

“I have wanted to take care of DACA recipients better than the Do Nothing Democrats, but for two years they refused to negotiate – They have abandoned DACA. Based on the decision the Dems can’t make DACA citizens. They gained nothing,” he claimed.

While the administration has worked to disband the young migrant programme, no alternative has been offered from the Oval Office to replace it.

Chief Justice John G Roberts wrote the majority opinion for the ruling that temporarily blocked disbanding DACA, and he was joined by the four liberal justices on the high court

In the majority opinion, the justices did not argue if the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “may” disband DACA in the future. What it did rule, though, was that the Trump administration failed to currently give adequate justification for disbanding the immigration programme.

“For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the acting secretary did violate the APA [Administrative Procedure Act], and that the rescission must be vacated,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote.

He added: “The basic rule here is clear: an agency must defend its actions based on the reasons it gave when it acted. This is not the case for cutting corners to allow DHS to rely upon reasons absent from its original decision.”

Nearly 700,000 people in the United States are “Dreamers”, the nickname for recipients on DACA. The status was first created by President Barack Obama in 2012 to protect young children who were illegally brought over to the US. The status allows for them to gain work authorisation without fear of deportation, but it does not provide a path to citizenship.

The ruling on Thursday temporarily protected these recipients and also allowed the potential for new people to apply to the programme.

Mr Trump vowed shortly into his first term as president that he would end DACA, arguing the programme was illegal and unconstitutional. His decision to disband the programme was blocked by federal judges in the lower courts, which pushed the administration to appeal to the Supreme Court.

He first reacted negatively to the ruling on Thursday after it was announced, questioning if the Supreme Court “doesn’t like me” because of the decision.

The Supreme Court currently has a conservative majority, with two judges being appointed by Mr Trump. The four conservative justices who voted to allow DACA to be disbanded argued the programme was illegal.

“Today’s decision must be recognised for what it is: an effort to avoid a politically controversial but legally correct decision,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in his dissent.

The block by the Supreme Court is just a temporary solution to the DACA programme. The judges’ ruling gave the Trump administration guidance that the programme still could be disbanded if the proper justifications were given.

“We do not decide whether DACA or its rescission are sound policies,” Justice Roberts wrote, “’The wisdom’ of those decisions ‘is none of our concern.’ Chenery II, 332 US, at 207. We address only whether the agency complied with the procedural requirement that it provide a reasoned explanation for its action.”

DACA is a popular programme within the US, according to polling. About 83 per cent of Americans favour or strongly favour an option for children brought to the US illegally to have a path towards citizenship if they met a set of requirements.

But this hasn’t stopped the Trump administration from working to disband the programme. It could be difficult, though, for the administration to disband the eight-year-old programme in the four months ahead of the election. The feat would be more possible if Mr Trump were to win a second term.

A way to permanently protect DACA recipients would rely on legislative action by Congress, something that both sides of the aisle have previously considered in past bills but faced blocks from Mr Trump.

Both Republicans and Democrats have approved of DACA because of the benefits recipients brought to society. About 90 per cent hold jobs, including an estimated 29,000 working in the healthcare industry, according to NPR. Recipients have also earned degrees, started families, and bought homes.

Pressure would now be on lawmakers for how they will permanently address DACA recipients and their citizenship status while working with the Trump administration.