The DACA decision: Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California and its implications

Abstract

The Trump Administration's effort to get rid of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, failed before the Supreme Court in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California, 140 S. Ct. 1891, 1896 (2020). In this essay -- based on a presentation given to an American Bar Association section in September 2020 -- I review DACA, the Supreme Court's decision, and its potential legal implications.

The failure of the Trump Administration to eliminate DACA may have had significant political consequences, and it surely had immediate and momentous consequences for many of DACA’s hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries. Some commentators noted, however, that the Supreme Court’s ruling it is not a major legal landmark—that it involves only the application of settled administrative-law principles. I largely agree with that view. Nonetheless, the decision’s administrative-law holdings are interesting, and the Court’s ruling contains several of what I view as “extras”—little nuances that may impact the law over time and that should interest administrative-law nerds.

Keywords: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DACA, administrative law, judicial review, Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts, Heckler v. Chaney, Justice Kavanaugh, Administrative Procedure Act

JEL Classification: K23, K37, K41, K42