Supreme Court rejects Trump request to fast track decision on DACA case

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s request to fast track a decision on whether it will hear a case over the president’s rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

The justices, in an unsigned order, denied the request, which was filed on behalf of the administration last month to expedite a decision on whether to review the case.

{mosads}Solicitor General Noel Francisco, who represents the administration in cases before the Supreme Court, had urged the justices to announce their decision on whether they will hear the case by the end of their term later this month.

“Because of the importance of the questions presented for review and the urgent need for their prompt resolution, the government moves for expedited consideration of the petition so that the petition may be resolved before the Court’s summer recess,” he wrote in last month’s filing.

But the justices on Monday denied that request, meaning the court could wait until their next term starts in the fall to decide whether they will hear a DACA case. They issued their ruling hours after the court released its orders for the day.

The Supreme Court is weighing several requests to take up cases surrounding the end of DACA. But the justices have acted slowly in determining whether they will take up the legal challenges, allowing lower court rulings blocking the program from ending to stand for the time being.

A pair of appeals courts have ruled against Trump officials who sought to end the Obama-era program.

The justices previously declined to take up the administration’s challenge to a district court ruling that temporarily blocked officials from winding down the program.

Monday’s order came as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the House could vote as soon as this week on the Dream Act, which among other things would give legal status to past DACA recipients.

Making a decision on whether to consider the case would put the court — once again — at the center of a controversial Trump policy decision.

The administration drew several legal challenges after it announced in 2017 that it would wind down the DACA program, which allowed hundreds of thousands of young people who were brought into the country illegally as children to remain in the U.S.

The justices previously issued rulings upholding other disputed administration policies, including a travel ban for several majority-Muslim countries and the transgender military ban.

The court is expected to make a similar ruling in the coming weeks, as the conservative majority has signaled it will allow the administration to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census.

Updated at 3:41 p.m.