Uncertain future for ‘Dreamers’ as deadline passes

US PRESIDENT DonaldTrump claimed on Monday he was “ready to make a deal” protecting hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the US illegally as children, as lawmakers missed a deadline for resolving their fate.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that shields nearly 700,000 of the so-called Dreamers from deportation was supposed to expire on March 5, six months after Trump announced he was ending it.

But a US District Court judge issued a nationwide injunction that requires the government to allow recipients to renew their permits to live and work in the country, and the US Supreme Court declined to accept the administration’s request to intervene.

Both those developments have taken the pressure off lawmakers.

With Dreamers and advocates stressing that the immigrants remain in legal limbo – weeks after the White House and Congress failed spectacularly to address their fate – Trump insisted he was ready to negotiate a solution.

“It’s March 5th and the Democrats are nowhere to be found on DACA. Gave them 6 months, they just don’t care,” Trump said on Twitter. “Where are they? We are ready to make a deal!”

With courts unlikely to rule definitively on immigration before summer, and the case expected to head to the Supreme Court after that, Congress is not expected to act before the mid-term elections in November.

Hundreds of activists and Dreamers descended onWashington to press lawmakers into action. Many in a crowd of chanting protesters blocked traffic near the Capitol, while others demonstrated inside congressional office buildings. Some 87 arrests were made. Lawmakers had every opportunity to legislate a fix, but the fate of the Dreamers has proved too divisive for Congress. Last month, Democrats forced a brief government shutdown over the issue, demanding that the Senate’s Republican leaders set aside time to debate immigration. They agreed, but despite a week of debate last month, the Senate failed to pass any proposals addressing Dreamers, and House Speaker Paul Ryan has not brought a legislative solution to the floor for a vote.