- Immigration « Sessions Statement
U.S. Department of Justice
Aug. 6, 2018
Attorney General Jeff Sessions Issues Statement on DACA Court Order
Attorney
General Jeff Sessions issued the following statement on Friday’s
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) order in the U. S.
District Court for the District of Columbia:
"We strongly disagree with the district court’s decision on Friday in
the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) case. The
executive
branch’s authority to simply rescind a policy, established only by a
letter from the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, is
clearly established. The Department of Justice will take every lawful
measure to vindicate the Department of Homeland Security’s lawful
rescission of DACA.
"The last administration violated its duty to enforce our immigration
laws by directing and implementing a categorical, multipronged
non-enforcement immigration policy for a massive group of illegal
aliens. This wrongful action left DACA open to the same legal
challenges that effectively invalidated another program they
established—Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful
Permanent Residents (DAPA). DAPA’s implementation was blocked by the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and never entered into
effect. These two policies declared by officials of the previous
administration—by policy letters only—had been considered by Congress
and rejected.
"The Trump Administration’s action to withdraw the policy letters
simply reestablished the legal policies consistent with the law. Not
only did the Trump Administration have the authority to withdraw this
guidance letter, it had a duty to do so. As former President Obama
previously said, the changes they attempted to effect through this
policy letter can only be lawfully achieved by congressional action.
The judicial branch has no power to eviscerate the lawful directives of
Congress—nor to enjoin the executive branch from enforcing such
mandates.
"We have recently witnessed a number of decisions in which courts have
improperly used judicial power to steer, enjoin, modify, and direct
executive policy. This ignores the wisdom of our Founders and
transfers policy making questions from the constitutionally empowered
and politically accountable branches to the judicial branch. It
also
improperly undermines this Administration’s ability to protect our
nation, its borders, and its citizens. The Trump Administration
and
this Department of Justice will continue to aggressively defend the
executive branch's lawful authority and duty to ensure a lawful system
of immigration for our country."