WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court is
rejecting the Trump administration's highly unusual bid to get the
justices to intervene in the controversy over protections for hundreds
of thousands of young immigrants.
The justices on Monday refused to take up the administration's appeal of
a lower court order that requires the administration to continue
accepting renewal applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals program, or DACA. What made the appeal unusual is that the
administration sought to bypass the federal appeals court in San
Francisco and go directly to the Supreme Court.
In a brief unsigned comment, the justices they assume "the court of
appeals will proceed expeditiously to decide this case."
A judge in New York also has ruled in favor of immigrants challenging
the end of DACA, and that case is expected to proceed to the federal
appeals court in New York.
President Donald Trump had set March 5 as the end date for the DACA
program. The court order says applications must be accepted
indefinitely. DACA has provided protection from deportation and work
permits for about 800,000 young people, many who were brought to the
U.S. illegally.
It's unclear how the court's action Monday will affect efforts in
Congress to come up with a legislative fix. The Senate recently failed
to pass an immigration bill.
The Supreme Court rarely hears a case before a lower appeals court has
considered it. The fight over whether President Richard Nixon had to
turn over the Watergate tapes is one such example. |
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