SCOTUS punts on DACA, giving Democrats no reason to take Trump's deal to end shutdown

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court declined to take up the court case involving President Trump's effort to end DACA amnesty for approximately 700,000 so-called "Dreamers."

The New York Times reports that the court's inaction all but guarantees the court will not hear the case until at least its next term, which leaves the program in place indefinitely. This means congressional Democrats have one more reason to refuse to compromise with President Trump on border security and reopen the government.

President Trump declared DACA unconstitutional in 2017 and moved to revoke President Obama's illegal executive order, only to be thwarted by federal courts. The Ninth Circuit issued a nationwide injunction blocking the Trump administration from rescinding DACA and leaving the fate of the 700,000 program participants uncertain. The Supreme Court will ultimately need to resolve the case, but having declined to hear it today, the earliest it can be taken up is in February, with oral arguments likely to begin in October.

Meanwhile, the government shutdown fight over border security continues in Congress.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump proposed a three-year extension of work permits for DACA recipients and a three-year extension of temporary protected status amnesty in exchange for $5.7 billion in border wall funding to reopen the government. His proposal was embraced by Senate Republicans and pre-emptively rejected by Democratic leaders Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Pelosi and Schumer have no reason to compromise with Trump on DACA. With SCOTUS taking the issue off the table until at least October, Pelosi and Schumer will see no point in accepting Trump's deal. They'll wager that the government will be reopened long before DACA recipients are in danger of losing their amnesty, and they're probably right.

There are three options for President Trump now. The first is make more concessions to the Democrats to reopen the government, which will be unacceptable to many Trump supporters. The second is to refuse to cave and use the bully pulpit of the presidency to hammer the Democrats on the border security issue until they agree to a compromise. If they refuse to budge while federal workers continue to go without pay and the border continues to be unsecured, then President Trump's third option is the lawful declaration of a national emergency to direct the military to construct physical barriers on the southern border.

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