Immigrants in the US are celebrating a ruling by the Supreme Court which now requires President Donald Trump’s administration to maintain their protection.
The thousands of immigrants were illegally brought to the United States back in their formative years.
On Monday, the US Supreme Court judges refused to hear an appeal by the administration in its quest to appeal an injunction issued by a federal judge on January 9 that barred Trump from overhauling a program that benefits immigrants known as “Dreamers” implemented in 2012 by former President Barack Obama.
Under the Republican president’s action, reports Reuters; “Trump’s Republican administration protections were due to start phasing out beginning in March.”
In their order which its reasoning was not explained at all, the Judges averred that the appeal was “denied without prejudice” further noting that the court will maintain an open mind on the legal issue that is still being litigated at the lower Court- the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
About 700,000 young adults, mostly Hispanics, are under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program which protects them from deportation and ensure they have work permits for a two-year periods, after which they must re-apply.
Last month, San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge William Alsup issued an injunction declaring that DACA must remain in place while the litigation is executed.
The Judge noted that the challengers- the states of California, Maine, Maryland and Minnesota and Janet Napolitano- Obama’s former homeland security secretary would probably win in their argument that the decision by Trump’s administration to end DACA was unfair.
However, Trump’s administration appealed this directly to the Supreme Court instead of appealing the issue at the federal appeals court.
His administration argues that Obama overstepped his powers under the Constitution when he bypassed Congress and created DACA.
In a statement as further reported by Reuters, Justice Department spokesman Devin O‘Malley said that the administration will continue to defend the Department of Homeland Security’s “lawful authority to wind down DACA in an orderly manner.”
Democrat-cum-California Attorney General Xavier Becerra termed the administration’s bid to bypass the 9th circuit “unusual and unnecessary”.
“We look forward to explaining to the Ninth Circuit court that DACA is fully legal. For the sake of the Dreamers who help make our economy and our state strong, the rescission of DACA should not be allowed to stand,” Becerra said in a statement.
The DACA dispute is one of the high profile cases before the Supreme Court for determination following Trump’s immigration policies. The justices are due to hear arguments in April challenging the legality of Trump’s travel ban order barring people several Muslim-majority nation from entering the US.
There is no legislation yet passed by the Congress addressing the plight of “Dreamers” which includes possibility of having US citizenship.
Besides Judge Alsup’s injunction, a second U.S. judge on February 13- U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn issued a similar injunction giving stay order for DACA.
But, in these two rulings, there is possibility the administration could at some point end the program but the issue at hand is that there was evidence it did not follow the correct procedures in doing so.
In light of the ruling, “Dreamers” who had previously applied for protections and whose two-year status was soon to expire can now apply beyond the deadline set by the administration in September.
The administration is however, not processing new applications.