It was decided on Monday by the Supreme Court to nullify President Donald Trump’s March 5 deadline for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The court’s ruling means an injunction preventing the Trump administration from unwinding the program will remain in place as the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals continues its review.
The Hill reported that Andrew Pincus, a Supreme Court litigator and partner at Mayer Brown, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm, said the earliest a decision could be expected from the appeals courts would be in June or July.
“We’re certainly looking at a matter of a significant number of months,” Pincus said.
Until a few weeks ago, it looked like the fight over DACA would dominate the congressional agenda this month but immigration issues have fallen to the side as gun control raced to the top of the political agenda as a result of the Florida high school shooting that left 17 people dead.
Although the ones that are protected by DACA can renew their applications, they could still lose their status if the courts take Trump’s side. Trump’s administration argues the Obama-era program is unconstitutional.
“Today’s decision means that current DACA recipients can continue to submit DACA renewal applications as long as the 9th Circuit injunction remains in place,” said Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Representative Michelle Lujan Grisham.
“However, DACA recipients will continue to face uncertainty until Republicans and Trump can agree to a fair and narrow bipartisan solution for Dreamers.”
According to The Hill, Congress has made little progress on a legislative solution, with Trump and Republicans demanding that a DACA fix be coupled with changes to other immigration programs and money for Trump’s wall on the Mexican border.
Meanwhile, a White House spokesman spoke against DACA and the lower court in a statement.
“The district judge’s decision unilaterally to re-impose a program that Congress had explicitly and repeatedly rejected is a usurpation of legislative authority,” deputy press secretary Raj Shah said in a Monday statement. “The fact that this occurs at a time when elected representatives in Congress are actively debating this policy only underscores that the district judge has unwisely intervened in the legislative process,” he added.
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