Back in June, Chief Justice Roberts wrote a DACA opinion that confused everyone. In other words, the Court did not rule on the constitutionality of DACA but rather the manner in which the Trump administration canceled it. It’s as if the Court told the Trump team that they forgot to answer question # 22 in the application for a loan. It didn’t approve or reject DACA, but rather just confused everyone.
Over the last few days, a judge in New York wrote an opinion:
“DHS failed to follow the order of succession as it was lawfully designated,” wrote Garaufis, an appointee of President Bill Clinton.
“Therefore, the actions taken by purported Acting Secretaries, who were not properly in their roles according to the lawful order of succession, were taken without legal authority.”
I’m not an expert on the legal authority of Acting Secretaries but I do know that presidents can cancel their predecessor’s orders. Didn’t President Obama reverse President Reagan and Bush on abortion rulings?
So what happens now? My guess is not much, because the Acting Secretary is not going to act on the opinion. Also, on a practical point, what DACA window does a “dreamer” go to? Where is that window in the Immigration Department?
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