Emails between DOJ officials and state government officials related to the DOJ decision not to defend the DACA program in court. DOJ in response to two FOIA requests in our DACA investigation. American Oversight also received records from the Office of Solicitor General in response to our FOIA request seeking communications regarding lawsuits by state government entities to challenge DACA.

On September 5, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) is “being rescinded” because it is “unconstitutional,” asserting that the policy has “enormous constitutional infirmities.” There may be an intense political debate about the policy merits of DACA, but the attorney general portrayed his decision not as a policy judgment but rather as a result compelled by law. What Sessions and the Department of Justice (DOJ) did not provide was a robust legal analysis supporting this contention.