The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether President Donald Trump can go forward with his plans to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. The Obama-era program has allowed almost 700,000 young adults without legal status but who have been in the United States since they were children to work and study without fear of deportation, NBC News reports.
If the Supreme Court rules in Trump's favor, the question is what happens to these hundreds of thousands of young adults.
Deportation is the biggest fear of DACA recipients, as Missael Garcรญa, 29, a father of a U.S.-born two-year-old, recently told NBC News. "Ending DACA would be a big blow for my family, it would be a complete family separation," he said.
Legal immigration experts say itโs highly unlikely that everyone would be deported immediately. The Supreme Courtโs ruling, of course, determines the next steps. But if Trump prevails, the administration is likely to impose a gradual shutdown of DACA similar to what it tried before the phase-out was blocked by lower courts.