STATEMENT: Trump Administration Makes Extraordinary Request to Bypass Circuit Courts and End DACA, Says Tom Jawetz

Washington, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a petition for a writ of certiorari, making the extraordinary request that the Supreme Court intervene on three Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) cases that have yet to be decided by the U.S. Courts of Appeals in order to end the program and imperil the lives of hundreds of thousands of Dreamers. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court denied the administration’s efforts to bypass a U.S. Court of Appeals review of one case and hear an immediate appeal of a lower court’s ruling. Tom Jawetz, vice president of Immigration Policy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, issued the following statement:

Three federal district courts have found that the Trump administration ended the DACA program in a capricious, unlawful manner and have ordered the government to keep the program in place. In a cruel and cynical move on election eve, the Trump administration is now asking the Supreme Court to bypass review by three separate appeals courts in order to end DACA and expose Dreamers to deportation without further delay.

The administration’s repeated and unjustified efforts to subject Dreamers to deportation are nothing but cruel, and there is no justification for circumventing appellate court review. To protect this institution from being implicated in the Trump administration’s electoral ploy, the Supreme Court should reject the administration’s request.

DACA has been a great benefit to the nation, and the evidence demonstrates that the program works. Since the window to renew DACA first reopened in January 2018, 230,310 DACA recipients have applied for renewal, and 187,240 have been granted renewal. In light of the continuing uncertainty surrounding DACA renewals, immigrant youth should visit www.RenewMyDACA.com to renew their status, and those who want to support Dreamers should donate now.

The stakes for Dreamers—and our country—could not be higher or more clear. Tomorrow, voters must decide whether to stand with immigrant youth and elect leaders who will act on the will of a majority of Americans who want to see permanent protections for Dreamers or further empower an administration that will stop at nothing to tear at the fabrics of our country itself.