The Supreme Court's decision to hear cases on whether President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE lawfully ended Obama-era protections for undocumented immigrants is teeing up the program as a key issue for Democrats in the 2020 presidential election.

Friday's order was a win for the Trump administration after a pair of federal appeals courts ruled that officials’ move to wind down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was unlawful and allowed the protections for “Dreamers” to stay in place.

And the order ensures that the protections for Dreamers, or undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, will remain in place as the Supreme Court considers the cases.

ADVERTISEMENT

But the timing also means that the justices will likely hand down their ruling on the highly divisive policy as the presidential race reaches a fever pitch in the early summer of 2020.

“Certainly immigration and what we do as a country about immigration is going to be a key issue for the campaign,” Janet Napolitano, president of the University of California and former Obama Homeland Security secretary, told reporters on a call Friday.

The topic was already brought up on the campaign trail ahead of the court’s announcement. Sen. Kamala Harris Kamala HarrisHundreds of lawyers from nation's oldest African American sorority join effort to fight voter suppression Biden picks up endorsement from progressive climate group 350 Action 3 reasons why Biden is misreading the politics of court packing MORE (D-Calif.) said during the Democratic presidential debate on Thursday night that if she is elected president, restoring DACA through executive action is the very first thing she will do.

“We cannot forget our DACA recipients, and so I'm going to start there,” she said.

Democratic candidate Sen. Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker3 reasons why Biden is misreading the politics of court packing Bipartisan praise pours in after Ginsburg's death DHS opens probe into allegations at Georgia ICE facility MORE (N.J.) said on the debate stage one night earlier that he would also put the DACA protections back in place.

And Sen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenHillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline Democratic senators ask inspector general to investigate IRS use of location tracking service MORE (Mass.), another 2020 Democrat, tweeted after the Supreme Court’s order on Friday that she “will fight my heart out to protect Dreamers.”

Immigration has already emerged as a leading theme in the 2020 race, with candidates wrangling over reforms to the current immigration laws during both Democratic debates this week.

At least 11 of the candidates, including former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro (D) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten GillibrandSunday shows preview: Justice Ginsburg dies, sparking partisan battle over vacancy before election Suburban moms are going to decide the 2020 election Jon Stewart urges Congress to help veterans exposed to burn pits MORE (D-N.Y.), traveled to a shelter for migrant children in Homestead, Fla., this week after media reports revealed poor conditions at detention facilities for young migrants.

Marielena Hincapié, the executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, told reporters Friday that the justices will hear arguments on DACA at the “height of the debate” on immigration on the campaign trail.

“This will absolutely play a role, namely because President Trump has made it very clear that he will continue to run on immigration as a way to get reelected,” she said. “And I think the Democratic candidates have an opportunity to show a different vision for the country.”

The Supreme Court’s order Friday combines three lawsuits over the end of DACA filed by a range of parties, including the University of California system, the NAACP, Microsoft and Princeton University, as well as a group of 15 states and the District of Columbia. Several individual DACA recipients are also included in the suits.

And the justices’ recent ruling on the census citizenship question could provide clues about how they will weigh the DACA case.

In a 5-4 ruling Thursday, Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court’s liberal members to find that the Trump administration’s given reason for asking about citizenship on the 2020 census didn’t line up with the facts of the case. The court sent the matter back to the Commerce Department and blocked the question from appearing on the census for the time being. To get the question in front of the court again, the Commerce Department would have to provide a new reason for its inclusion.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra Xavier BecerraState AGs condemn HUD rule allowing shelters to serve people on basis of biological sex OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Trump casts doubt on climate change science during briefing on wildfires | Biden attacks Trump's climate record amid Western wildfires, lays out his plan | 20 states sue EPA over methane emissions standards rollback 20 states sue EPA over methane emissions standards rollback MORE (D), who represents the University of California in its lawsuit, said during a press call Friday that the census ruling “demonstrates that the court’s not going to be fooled by the Trump administration’s clearly disingenuous efforts” to roll back protections.

“It think it proves that judges are watching what basis the federal government has to act by and renege on protections for Americans,” Becerra said.

But another legal challenge over DACA could add a wrinkle to the case: A federal judge in Texas is considering whether the Obama-era program itself is legal in a lawsuit led by the state of Texas.

Judge Andrew Hanen wrote in a ruling last year that he would allow the protections to remain in place for now but that he believes the program is unlawful. Opponents of the program have cast it as an overstep of executive authority by then-President Obama and claim that only Congress should have been able to implement such vast protections.

Joshua Blackman, an associate professor of law at the South Texas College of Law Houston, predicted that Hanen, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, will likely put that case on hold as the Supreme Court considers the challenges to the end of the DACA program.

But he said that the legality of DACA itself will likely have to be resolved sooner rather than later, particularly if a Democratic president wants to bring back the program.

“If the court only holds that the rescission is valid, that doesn't allow the next president to go bring it back in,” Blackman told The Hill. “So then we're back where we started from to decide whether DACA is legal.”

Regardless of the court ruling, there is sure to be pressure on Congress to take action to permanently adopt the protections for Dreamers.

The House earlier this month passed the American Dream and Promise Act, which would permanently block Dreamers from deportation and offer a pathway to citizenship to 2 million immigrants without legal status.

Sen. Dick Durbin Richard (Dick) Joseph DurbinThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Trump previews SCOTUS nominee as 'totally brilliant' Feinstein 'surprised and taken aback' by suggestion she's not up for Supreme Court fight Grand jury charges no officers in Breonna Taylor death MORE (D-Ill.), who authored the original bipartisan Dream Act, called on the Senate to take up the bill after the Supreme Court’s announcement.

But the chances of the legislation getting a vote are slim to none as long as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline The Hill's Campaign Report: Trump faces backlash after not committing to peaceful transition of power MORE (R-Ky.) controls the floor.

Becerra and Hincapié on Friday both noted that DACA recipients can still renew their status under the program and that the protections last for two years.

More than 373,000 DACA renewal requests have been approved since a national injunction was issued in January 2018 blocking the program's end.

But Hincapié said that if DACA falls in court, she hopes it “will actually light a fire under Congress” to pass a “permanent solution to this issue.”