Supreme Courts Declines To Hear Trump's Case Against Young Undocumented Immigrants

(@FahadShabbir)

Supreme Courts declines to hear Trump's case against young undocumented immigrants

WASHINGTON, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Feb, 2018 ) :The US Supreme Court on Monday declined a request by the Trump administration to hear a case against undocumented immigrants brought to the country as young children who faced deportation after a protection program due to expire on March 5.

President Trump has last year announced to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, called DACA, which had protected 1.8 million children who were brought to the country by their parents and were not documented.

The President had set March 5 as a deadline for the Congress to do legislation to protect the DACA children, more popularly known as dreamers, failing which he would start deporting them. Lawmakers have been unable to draw the legislation as President Trump has linked the legislation to billions of Dollars he is seeking to build a war along the Mexican border to prevent illegal crossover.

He is also demanding curbs on legal immigrants. Opposition Democrats have refused to accept either of the demands resulting in a deadlock over the legislation that could protect the dreamers. The administration had sought the Supreme Court intervention to speed up the legal fight erupted after a lower court prevented the administration to unwind the program after the deadline.

The administration was seeking the Supreme Court to decide the case bypassing the appeal court. The Supreme Court only bypass an appellate court when either there is an emergency that involves foreign affairs, or a serious separation of powers concerns or if it is already hearing a case similar to the one in question.

Denying the request by the administration, the Supreme Court unanimously decided to let the appellate court complete its proceedings as per normal procedures.

The decision also meant that the administration cannot close the program after the March 5 deadline.

Reacting to the decision, the White House said that it would continue to defend the decision to close the DACA program which, it said, provided work permits and other government benefits to undocumented immigrants and was unlawful.

The request by the Trump administration to bypass the lower court proceeding is seen as rare. The Attorney General of the state of California, which is party to one of the lawsuits against the decision to close the program, said that the request to bypass the appeals court was "unusual and unnecessary".

The Supreme Court decision will allow these Dreamers immigrant to renew their work permits, which are good for two years, as well as claim benefits. It will also prevent their deportation pending the court decision.

DACA program was established by the previous president, Barack Obama, to protect these children as long as Congress legislates on the issue. A Federal court judge last month issued a nationwide injunction ordering the Trump administration to resume DACA renewals.

The administration had allowed only those to renew whose permits were expiring by the deadline. That means, those whose permits expire after March 5 will not be able to renew. Since taking charge of the White House, President Trumps has now only followed through his election promises to crack down on illegal immigrants, but has also floated proposals to limit legal immigration.