US Gov't Upholds DACA Program, Intends to Discontinue Eventually, Homeland Security Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The US government will continue the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), also known as the "Dreamers" program, in line with the Supreme Court's decision, but with an outlook to terminate it, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said on Sunday.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court blocked the administration of US President Donald Trump from discontinuing the Obama-era program that safeguards undocumented immigrants from deportation provided that they had arrived in the United States in childhood.

"We'll continue the program as we have over the past two years, continuing to renew [work visas for DACA immigrants], but the president has been very clear about wanting to find a lasting solution for these individuals. He has also directed the department to take a look at the court opinion, take a look at our rationale, and we are doing that as well so that we can, again, wind down this program," Wolf told CBS.

The official pointed out that when adopting the program in 2012, former president Barack Obama's administration did not provide the public with the opportunity to comment on what Wolf called "such a monumental decision."

"We known that the DACA program is unlawful. The Supreme Court even this week did not say that the program was lawful, and, in fact, they said that the Department [of Homeland Security] has the ability to rescind the program," Wolf said.

According to the official, it was the administration's rationale for terminating the program that the court found unacceptable.

Earlier this week, Trump said that the administration would soon submit a revised rationale for discontinuing the program. The US president has put effort to suspend the Dreamers program since 2017, all of them so far blocked by courts.