US Supreme Court handicaps Trump's 'dreamer' plans

The US Supreme Court dealt a blow to the Trump administration on Monday as it declined to take up a lawsuit concerning the citizenship status of the children of illegal immigrants, known as 'dreamers'.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme protects young undocumented immigrants against deportation through means of work permits and deportation relief and was set to conclude on 5 March after President Trump rescinded it in September 2017.

But the administration is now all but certain to miss this self-imposed deadline.

The Supreme Court’s decision concerns a California lawsuit, one of a number alleging that the White House’s attempts to end DACA violates federal law, after San Francisco US District Judge William Alsup ruled the DACA programme must remain in place while the lawsuit is resolved.

Devin O’Malley, department spokesman for the Department of Justice, said: "While we were hopeful for a different outcome, the Supreme Court very rarely grants certiorari before judgement, though in our view it was warranted for the extraordinary injunction requiring the Department of Homeland Security to maintain DACA. We will continue to defend DHS’ lawful authority to wind down DACA in an orderly manner."

Earlier this month, Brooklyn District Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled that the White House had relied on flawed legal positions in its attempts to rescind the programme.

Roughly 700,000 people, primarily Hispanic, young adults are currently enrolled in the DACA programme, and roughly 1.8m of the 11m illegal immigrants in the US are eligible for protection under the legislation.

Meanwhile, Congress has repeatedly failed to pass alternate legislation to protect dreamers and others who are eligible for the programme.