President Donald Trump is considering putting an end to the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals (DACA) program before conservative state attorney generals can challenge it in court, Axios reports.
Although no final decision has been made, Trump continues to receive advice from administration officials, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who strongly believe DACA should end, according to Axios. However, Trump has said he sympathizes with children who have been helped by DACA.
The program blocks illegal immigrants from being deported and grants them permits to study and work in the U.S. provided they arrived in the U.S. as children. About 750,000 people are covered under the program.
The administration has continued to grant new permits under the program while its under review, Axios reports.
During the campaign, Trump had pledged to end the program, but has held off, The Washington Post noted.
The newspaper said top officials at the Department of Homeland Security met this week to review the status of the program amid rumors that a decision from Trump was forthcoming.
The threat of a lawsuit from various states has kept people questioning whether the administration would defend the program.
Texas has set a Sept. 5 deadline for the administration to put an end to DACA.
"If Trump decides to end the successful DACA program, it would signal that he has decided to appeal to the white supremacists in his base rather than to courageously lead in this moment," Marilena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, told the Post.