Supreme Court rejects...

Supreme Court rejects Trump request to weigh in quickly on Dreamers

The justices' decision reduces the urgency of the drive in Congress to craft a legislative fix for DACA.

By JOSH GERSTEIN

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the administration's request to speed up the legal fight over protections for undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children, after President Donald Trump decided last year to end the program.

The Justice Department had asked the justices to skip the usual appeals court process and review a district court judge’s ruling requiring the administration to resume renewals of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

The Supreme Court declined the request Monday. No justices dissented. The high court could still weigh in later, but the move suggests the justices want to allow one or more appeals courts to take up the question before considering it.

The justices’ action is a mixed bag for the immigrants known as Dreamers. It means that as the legal process grinds on in federal courts, people who received work permits and protection from deportation through DACA will likely be able to keep renewing their participation. The work permits, which grant legal work authority in the U.S., are good for two years.

However, the high court’s decision to pass up the issue for now also reduces the urgency of the drive in Congress to craft a legislative solution to the problem. That effort appeared to result in stalemate earlier this month after three different proposals failed to advance in the Senate.

The Trump administration announced last September that it was ending the program that provided quasi-legal status and work permits to about 800,000 people, who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children or overstayed their visas.

The White House said that President Barack Obama exceeded his legal authority in establishing the program and that it was vulnerable to being abruptly shut down after Republican state attorneys general threatened to challenge it in court.

Trump agreed to allow DACA recipients with permits expiring through March 5 to renew them for another two years, but permits expiring after that date would not be renewable, ending those individuals’ right to work legally in the U.S. and making them more vulnerable to deportation.

Last month, a federal judge in San Francisco issued a nationwide preliminary injunction ordering the Trump administration to resume DACA renewals. The judge said the administration’s stated concern that the program was illegal appeared to be based on flawed legal reasoning.

The administration could have sought an immediate stay of that ruling in order to proceed with the wind-down on the president’s schedule. However, Justice Department lawyers passed up that opportunity.

This month, a federal judge in New York issued a second preliminary injunction requiring the administration to keep renewing permits.

Despite the court rulings largely nullifying the March 5 deadline, Trump has repeatedly called attention to it in recent weeks. But the administration has taken a hard line in immigration talks, insisting that any path to citizenship for Dreamers be linked to increased border security and a dramatic shift in the nation’s policies toward legal immigration.

The legislation the White House backed garnered just 39 votes in the recent Senate debate — not nearly enough to move forward.

Trump’s own intentions on the issue have remained murky. He has told Dreamers “not to worry” about deportation and has suggested that if Congress fails to act, he might step in to provide relief.

In recent days, Trump has taken to taunting Democrats, claiming they lost interest in the issue. He also seems to be trying to drive a wedge between Democrats and the immigrant communities with the most at stake.

“Dems are no longer talking DACA!” Trump tweeted on Saturday. “’Out of sight, out of mind,’ they say. DACA beneficiaries should not be happy. Nancy Pelosi truly doesn’t care about them. Republicans stand ready to make a deal!”