Trump Cabinet members actions and issues: on Immigration

Antonin Scalia: DACA phase-out legally correct under administrative law

Federal courts said the administration had acted arbitrarily when phasing out the program. The 5-4 ruling emphasized that the administration failed to provide an adequate reason to justify ending the DACA program.

Clarence Thomas wrote in a dissent, that Scalia joined, that the ruling is "an effort to avoid a politically controversial but legally correct decision. The majority makes the mystifying determination that this rescission of DACA was unlawful. The majority acts as though it is engaging in the routine application of standard principles of administrative law. This is anything but a standard administrative law case."

Barack Obama: DACA recipients make America's shared ideals

Federal courts said the administration had acted arbitrarily when phasing out the program. The courts pointed to the administration's thin justification--reasoning Roberts and the Supreme Court eventually agreed with.

Former President Barack Obama weighed in on the decision on Twitter, writing of DACA recipients: "Today, I'm happy for them, their families, and all of us. We may look different and come from everywhere, but what makes us American are our shared ideals," Obama wrote, noting the program was created eight years ago this week.

Brett Kavanaugh: DACA phase-out legally correct under administrative law

Justice Kavanaugh wrote a separate dissent praising immigrants, but saying he did not agree with the majority opinion. "They live, go to school, & work here with uncertainty about their futures. Despite many attempts over the last two decades, Congress has not yet enacted legislation to afford legal status to those immigrants," Kavanaugh wrote. He noted that "the only practical consequence of the Court's decision to remand appears to be some delay" because the decision allows "the Department to relabel and reiterate substance."

Clarence Thomas: DACA phase-out legally correct under administrative law

Federal courts said the administration had acted arbitrarily when phasing out the program. The 5-4 ruling emphasized that the administration failed to provide an adequate reason to justify ending the DACA program.

In his dissent, Thomas wrote that the decision is "an effort to avoid a politically controversial but legally correct decision. The majority makes the mystifying determination that this rescission of DACA was unlawful. In reaching that conclusion, the majority acts as though it is engaging in the routine application of standard principles of administrative law. On the contrary, this is anything but a standard administrative law case."

Donald Trump: DACA phase-out legally correct but politically controversial

Federal courts said the administration had acted arbitrarily when phasing out the program. The 5-4 ruling emphasized that the administration failed to provide an adequate reason to justify ending the DACA program.

After the ruling was handed down, Trump retweeted a tweet featuring Justice Clarence Thomas' dissent. The decision is "an effort to avoid a politically controversial but legally correct decision," Thomas wrote. Thomas argued in his dissent that "the majority makes the mystifying determination that this rescission of DACA was unlawful. On the contrary, this is anything but a standard administrative law case."

Jeff Sessions: DACA program was created without proper authority

After Trump came into office, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the program had been created "without proper authority" and only after Congress had rejected proposed legislation. The following day, DHS announced DACA would be phased out, pointing out that it had "legal and constitutional defects."

Months later, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen issued a new memo laying out more policy-based justifications for winding down the program. She said, for example, that the program increased the risk of undermining public confidence in the rule of law.

Federal courts said the administration had acted arbitrarily when phasing out the program. The courts pointed to the administration's thin justification--reasoning Roberts and the Supreme Court eventually agreed with.

Joe Biden: Make DACA permanent; much work remains to be done

Federal courts said the administration had acted arbitrarily when phasing out the program. The courts pointed to the administration's thin justification--reasoning Roberts and the Supreme Court eventually agreed with.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden also celebrated the ruling, calling it a "victory" and again saying that if elected, he will work "immediately" on legislation that would make the program permanent. "The joy of today's victory does not erase the difficult road ahead," Biden said in a statement. "We know that much work remains to be done."

Kirstjen Nielsen: DACA program undermines confidence in rule of law

After Trump came into office, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the program had been created "without proper authority" and only after Congress had rejected proposed legislation. The following day, DHS announced DACA would be phased out, pointing out that it had "legal and constitutional defects."

Months later, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen issued a new memo laying out more policy-based justifications for winding down the program. She said, for example, that the program increased the risk of undermining public confidence in the rule of law.

Federal courts said the administration had acted arbitrarily when phasing out the program. The courts pointed to the administration's thin justification--reasoning Roberts and the Supreme Court eventually agreed with.

Samuel Alito: DACA phase-out legally correct; politics is not our business

Federal courts said the administration had acted arbitrarily when phasing out the program. The 5-4 ruling emphasized that the administration failed to provide an adequate reason to justify ending the DACA program.

Justice Alito seemed wrote in his dissent that "DACA presents a delicate political issue, but that is not our business. As Justice Thomas explains, DACA was unlawful from the start, and tha

Ken Cuccinelli: Give me your poor, if they won't become a public charge

Ken Cuccinelli: Give me your poor, if they won't become a public charge

Ken Cuccinelli: Detain and then deport one million undocumented immigrants

Cuccinelli, an immigration hardliner who took the helm of the agency last month, said it is within ICE's discretion to determine who among those with final orders of deportation will be targeted in operations, suggesting the full pool of approximately one million immigrants might not face deportation after all. "They've been all the way through the due process and have final removal orders. Who among those will be targeted for this particular effort is kept within ICE at this point," he added.

Elaine Chao: Immigrated to America at age 8; gained citizenship at age 19

Wilbur Ross: Citizenship on census vital to enforce Voting Rights Act

Jeff Sessions: Asylum was never meant to alleviate world's problems

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV): "Attorney General Sessions continues to betray every American value of compassion, justice and respect for the rule of law. This is not who America is."

Larry Kudlow: Zero immigration till new system to stop ISIS is implemented

"I have come to believe there should be no immigration or visa waivers until the U.S. adopts a completely new system to stop radical Islamic terrorists from entering the country," he wrote in a National Review article.

Elaine Chao: Legality at the heart of immigration policy debate

A: The immigration debate - and I think some people have tried to make it into a racial issue, it is not. The issue at stake is the issue of legality. And so how do we square with people who have come in, you know, not using the legal process? And what do we do about people who do follow the legal process and they're waiting on line? And so that's why I think we have to have a complete reform of our immigration policy and not just do it on a piecemeal basis.

Nikki Haley: Refugee ban: What we did was take a pause

HALEY: I am the proud daughter of Indian immigrants. I believe that the fabric of America is legal immigration. This is not about not wanting people in. This is about keeping the terrorists out. We should never ban based on religion, I mean, period. We should never. And I don't think that's what this is. We will never close our doors in the United States. We won't. But what we did do was take a pause.