The debate on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is still ongoing despite Trump’s March 5 deadline for Congress’s decision. On Monday (Feb. 26), the Supreme Court denied the Trump administration’s request for the case to sidestep federal appeals court and go right to the justices, reports PBS.
The request is highly unusual and was primarily used as a tactic in order to rush a decision that will affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of young immigrants. Because the case will make its way thru the lower courts first (which is the usual way), the pressures on Congress have lessened as reaching a decision could take weeks, even months.
The Obama-era program first created in 2012 has protected nearly 700,000 young people who came to the U.S. as children from deportation and granted them work permits. The current pre-enrolled DREAMers are able to renew their documents as the Trump administration will accept them on a case-by-case basis. However, new applicants are still not being accepted for the program, according to Time.
In the last few weeks, this case in particular has become a hot button issue as the deadline is rapidly approaching. Back in September, Trump gave the March 5 date as incentive for lawmakers to come up with a legislative fix for the program as he has decided to end it. Trump also said he believed Obama had abused his executive powers by creating the program in the first place.
Trump hasn’t been shy about his views on immigration throughout his presidency and at this point needs a major “win” to fulfill his campaign promises.