Administration asks court to decide on ending DACA

The Trump administration again asked the Supreme Court to step into the legal fight over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program on Monday, urging the justices to decide this term whether the government has the power to end the Obama-era immigration policy.

In three petitions from three appeals courts, the Department of Homeland Security and other Trump officials want a speedy high court review of whether the administration’s September 2017 decision to revoke the discretionary program was lawful, and whether the federal courts can review that decision at all.

The court action comes on the eve of a midterm election where President Donald Trump has made immigration enforcement a major issue as Republicans defend majorities in both the House and Senate.

The Justice Department filed the requests in ongoing legal challenges where lower court judges have concluded that ending DACA was either unlawful or likely was unlawful, but appeals courts have not yet reviewed the cases.

Federal courts have required the government to maintain the DACA policy nationwide that applies to more than 500,000 socalled Dreamers who arrived in the United States illegally as children, until the legal challenges are resolved. The administration sought to wind down the program in March.

The Supreme Court would not be able to review the DACA issue until late 2019 at the earliest if the government waits for the regular appeals court process to play out, a Trump administration petition says.

The justices in February declined a similar administration request.