Federal court rules Acting DHS Secretary lacked authority to suspend DACA News
© WikiMedia (Inter-American Dialogue)
Federal court rules Acting DHS Secretary lacked authority to suspend DACA

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled on Saturday that Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chad Wolf lacked the authority to suspend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA).

The Supreme Court decided in June that the Trump administration could not end the DACA program that provided temporary relief to undocumented immigrants, because the “rescission was arbitrary and capricious.” Following the SCOTUS decision, a District Court in Maryland ordered the administration to begin accepting new DACA applicants. However, Wolf issued a memo on July 28th that ordered DHS officials to “reject all pending and future initial requests for DACA, to reject all pending and future applications for advance parole absent exceptional circumstances, and to shorten DACA renewals consistent with the parameters established in this memorandum” from two years to one.

U.S. District Court judge Nicholas Judge Garaufis said in his opinion that when DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned in 2019, the order of succession was straightforward; from the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security to the Under Secretary for Management, Administrator of FEMA, and then the Director of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure. Under this succession plan, Christopher Krebs should have assumed the role as DHS Acting Secretary instead of Kevin McAleenan, who was Commissioner of US Customs and Border Patrol at the time. Since McAleenan lacked the statutory authority to assume the position as Secretary of DHS, Chad Wolf assuming the position of Acting Secretary after him was also “not an authorized agency action.”

Judge Garaufis said that since Wolf lacked the authority to serve as Acting Secretary, his July 28 memorandum that effectively ended the DACA program is invalid, like all other actions he undertook in the position.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Justice Department brings anit-trust action against AT&T

On November 20, 1974, the Department of Justice filed its final anti-trust suit against AT&T. United States v. AT&T was ultimately settled out of court with an agreement that the corporation would break up its monopoly on phone service throughout the country.

Nuremberg war crimes trials began

On November 20, 1945, the war crimes trials of Nazi World War II leaders began in the German city of Nuremberg. Review the Nuremberg Tribunal's Charter and the verdicts and sentences handed down on major war figures.

Winston Churchill born

On November 20, 1874, Sir Winston Churchill was born in Woodstock, England. He would go on to lead the United Kingdom as Prime Minister through World War II. Toward the end of the war, Churchill worked with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to craft the treaties and accords that have defined the world since WWII. A 2002 poll by the BBC declared Churchill the Greatest Briton of all time.

New Jersey ratifies Bill of Rights

New Jersey ratified the Bill of Rights, a set of 10 fundamental amendments to the US Constitution, on November 20, 1789, becoming the first state to do so. The state also ratified an amendment on federal representation which ultimately failed. Additionally, New Jersey rejected an amendment on congressional salaries, which would eventually become the 27th Amendment more than 200 years later. Read the articles ratified by New Jersey.