The Trump administration is seeking a fast track to the Supreme Court in hopes of reversing a federal judge's order that it restart a popular program that has enabled young, undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States.
The Justice Department announced Tuesday that it will appeal U.S District Judge William Alsup's decision both to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit and to the Supreme Court — an unusual move.
The strategy appears aimed both at a speedy resolution to the legal battle over DACA — the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — and a friendlier court. The high court has upheld other Trump administration policies, most notably his immigration travel ban, over federal appeals court rejections.
“It defies both law and common sense for DACA ... to somehow be mandated nationwide by a single district court in San Francisco,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said.
Faced with last week's decision, the administration on Saturday announced that it would resume accepting renewal applications from immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
Trump announced last September that the program would end unless it was renewed by Congress within six months. Negotiations have been tied up with the federal budget and other issues — most recently Trump's description of some Third World countries as "s***holes."
