The Supreme Court ruled that the way in which the Trump administration ended the DACA program was illegal in a 5-4 decision on Monday. The ruling is narrow, speaking only to the process by which DACA was ended. As one attorney noted today, SCOTUS has in effect provided a road map for the administration to follow in terminating the program. Moreover, there is lack of clarity from USCIS as to whether it will accept new applications. In one interpretation of the decision, the program has been legally reinstated to its original so it should be accepting new applications; but it is operating under an administration that has made it clear it does not want the program to continue, so unless the agency believes it is on solid legal footing to reopen application it is unlikely to provide guidance on the issue.
Whether restarting the program is legal or not, a question that will almost certainly be the subject of legal challenges from both sides depending on how the USCIS proceeds, its senior officials may be wary upsetting Trump for fear of retaliation (sorry - "dismissal for cause"), particularly in an election year when Trump will doubtless want to make immigration an issue to roust his base to the polls.
So the question is what will the administration do - and when. It seems likely that USCIS will hold of an processing any new applications until the issue is settled in court. And it is also likely that Trump will have Homeland Security go through the process of terminating DACA in a way that satisfies Monday's Supreme Court ruling with all possible speed. With only five months to the election, Trump will be desperate to have at least one win in his pocket and terminating DACA is looking like his only real shot.
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