The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a judge's ruling blocking the administration's decision to end protections for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants.
In a court filing late Thursday, attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice say the judge's ruling requires officials to keep the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in place even though they have determined it's illegal.
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DACA has protected about 800,000 people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children or came with families who overstayed visas.
The request for review by the Supreme Court is unusual because an appellate court has yet to rule on U.S. District Judge William Alsup's Jan. 9 preliminary injunction. The DOJ says without Supreme Court intervention, Alsup's decision could stay in place for more than a year.
