WHAT HAPPENED AT THE U.S. SUPREME COURT

DACA not likely to get review this term

The Supreme Court is not likely to review during its current term the program that shields young undocumented immigr a nts brought to the United States as children, leaving in place the Obamaera initiative that the Trump administration has tried to end.

What happened Tuesday

The justices took no action on the administration’s request that it review the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which has protected nearly 700,000 people brought to this country as children.

If the court sticks to its normal procedures, that would mean that even if it accepts the case as a later date, it would not be argued until the new term starting in October, with a decision likely in 2020.

What the White House has said

The administration moved to scuttle the program in 2017 after Texas and other states threatened to sue to force its end. Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions advised the Department of Homeland Security that the program was probably unlawful and that it could not be defended.

Even as he tried to end it, President Donald Trump has called upon Congress to give legal status and an eventual path to citizenship to the young immigrants, who are sometimes called “Dreamers.”

What the courts have said

A string of lower of lower courts have said that Trump’s decision to terminate the program was based on faulty legal reasoning and that the administration has failed to provide a solid rationale for ending it.

The judges who have stopped the termination of the program have said the administration could remedy the legal impasse by providing a detailed reasoning of why the program should end.

Instead, it has continued to combat the orders in court. In the meantime, the courts have required the administration to allow people enrolled in it to renew their protected status.

What’s next

DACA has emerged as an issue in the negotiations over ending the partial government shutdown, with Trump offering extended but still temporary protection for those in the program in exchange for billions of dollars to build a border wall.

With the court appearing to keep the program safe for at least a year, Trump’s promises to suspend his efforts to try to end it became less appealing to Democratic lawmakers.