Mondays, during the month of June, is when the Supreme Court usually publishes its decisions. The one we are anxiously waiting for – and one with major impact– is the decision they have taken regarding DACA. DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program) is the policy that offers temporary legal status and work permits to young immigrants who came to the United States before 2012 and under the age of 16. In order to participate in the program, they need to apply and fulfill certain minimum requirements.

President Obama established DACA through an executive order in 2012, as a temporary fix in order to give Congress time to pass permanent laws that would provide a pathway to legal permanent residence and citizenship once and for all. Unfortunately, eight years have gone by and Congress still has not come to an agreement.

In 2017, President Trump announced he was going to end DACA. However, the decision did not fully take immediate effect and faced a number of legal challenges. Ultimately, it landed at the Supreme Court so that they would make the final decision as to if Trump’s decision is valid or not. This is the decision we are waiting for.

Attorney Manuel Solis shares three possible decisions that the Supreme Court may take:

The Supreme Court may decide that the president had the necessary authority to cancel DACA and did it correctly, but, I would hope, allow time for the Congress to negotiate a permanent extension. Another possibility would be that they determine Trump had the authority and did everything correctly, but a time provision for Congress to act is not put in place. In this case, DACA recipients could lose their protections and work permits almost immediately and even face the possibility of deportation. This would be the “worst case scenario.” The third possibility – and the best – would be that they conclude that Trump did not cancel DACA correctly and that all of DACA’s provisions will remain until Congress comes to an agreement and finally enacts some immigration laws – which, we hope, will favor these approximately 700,000 DACA recipients. According to polls, the majority of Americans recognize the important contribution that “Dreamers” have made to our nation and believe there should be a pathway for them to become legal permanent residents and citizens. We pray that will be the case! As we mentioned, we will probably be hearing the Supreme Court’s decision on this matter next or the following Monday, so let’s be alert.