A pro-immigration activist holds a sign in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court has decided to hear arguments over the Trump administation's termination of the DACA program. | Alex Wong/Getty Images Legal Supreme Court will hear arguments over DACA termination

The Supreme Court will hear arguments over the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the court said Friday.

The announcement sets up a legal showdown over President Donald Trump’s decision to phase out work authorization and deportation protections for 669,000 Dreamers who were illegally brought to the U.S. or overstayed a visa as children. The high court could assign the case for argument as soon as October.


The news comes as Trump and congressional Democrats continue to feud over his aggressive immigration crackdown and a growing influx of migrant families and children at the Southwest border.

DACA, which was established in 2012 as an executive-branch program by former President Barack Obama, provides deportation relief and work permits to Dreamers brought to the United States as children.

Trump, arguing that DACA would not withstand legal challenges, moved to phase out the initiative in September 2017. But three federal judges blocked the planned termination. Two federal appeals courts have subsequently issued rulings against Trump’s wind-down.

As a result of the lower court rulings, the Trump administration resumed processing renewals for people already enrolled in the program, and it may eventually be required to accept new applications.

Morning Shift newsletter Get the latest on employment and immigration, every weekday morning — in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The Supreme Court’s action on Friday came after it passed up numerous requests from the Trump administration to wade into the dispute over the past year-and-a-half. Many court watchers speculated that the justices were hoping that by standing back, they might encourage Trump and Congress to cut a deal that would eliminate the need for the high court to rule on the subject.

But the timing of the court’s announcement will only heighten the political potency of the dispute. The case is now on a trajectory to be argued as the race for the Democratic presidential nomination is in high gear, and then decided as the general election contest begins to heat up.

Polls consistently show most Americans back a path to legal status for Dreamers, although the support is less robust among Republicans.

The Democrat-controlled House passed a bill earlier this month that would provide conditional legal status to an estimated 2.3 million Dreamers. Once legalized, Dreamers could eventually apply for permanent residence and citizenship if they meet certain criteria.

The bill also provides legal status to more than 400,000 immigrants covered by Temporary Protected Status, a separate humanitarian program for people whose home countries experience a natural disaster or armed conflict.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), however, has said it’s unlikely the Republican-controlled Senate will vote on the legislation, which was crafted by Democrats.

The administration has had a mixed record on high-profile immigration cases before the Supreme Court.

The justices on Thursday dealt Trump an unexpected blow when they ruled that the rationale for a citizenship question on the 2020 census was “contrived“ and sent the case back to lower courts. In that ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court’s liberal wing.

But the Supreme Court upheld another Trump policy a year ago when it ruled in favor of a revised version of his travel ban. The 5-4 ruling split along ideological lines, with the court’s conservative justices backing the president’s powers to restrict immigration in the interest of national security.