DACA Renewal Program Remains in Place after Supreme Court Takes No Action on Trump Administration Expedite Request

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At a glance

• The Supreme Court has taken no action on the Trump Administration’s request to fast-track review of its decision to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, leaving parts of the program in place for the next several months.
• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will continue to accept DACA renewal applications in accordance with district court orders until further notice.

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The situation

The Supreme Court has taken no action on the Trump Administration’s request to expedite and consolidate review of challenges to its decision to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The court’s inaction means that renewal applications will continue to be accepted for the next several months or longer. Though the Court may still decide to take this matter up – its next scheduled conference is February 15 – its usual schedule and procedures suggest that oral arguments would not be heard until next term, which begins in October 2019.

Today’s development comes after a November 2018 request from the Trump Administration to consolidate three challenges to its order to terminate the DACA program, even though the lower courts hearing these cases have not all completed their review. Last year, federal district courts in California, New York and Washington D.C. temporarily blocked the Administration’s decision to rescind DACA and each imposed nationwide injunctions requiring the Department of Homeland Security to continue to accept DACA application renewals while the legal challenges moved forward. One court ordered DHS to accept new DACA applications but stayed that order. To date, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the California district court’s ruling; appeals in the Second Circuit and the D.C. Circuit remain under review. Separately, a federal district court in Texas declined a request to order the government to stop adjudicating DACA renewals. 

What this means

Because the Court did not take up the Trump Administration’s request, DHS will continue to accept DACA renewal applications until further notice. Applications from those who have not previously received DACA benefits are not accepted.

In a related development, President Trump on Saturday proposed to continue the DACA Program (and Temporary Protected Status) for the three years in exchange for $5.7 billion in funding for a wall along the southern border. The President’s proposal has been met with opposition from Congressional Democrats and from immigration restrictionists.

This alert is for information purpose only. If you have any questions, please contact the immigration professional with who you work.