Nine GOP-controlled states led by Texas asked a federal judge to shut down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to prevent nearly 600,000 immigrants known as “Dreamers” from renewing their deportation protections and work permits.

The request represents the most pressing legal threat to the Obama-era DACA program, which has continued, although in a limited way, despite the years-old lawsuit challenging its legality and former President Donald Trump’s attempts to dismantle it.

For over a decade, DACA has allowed hundreds of thousands of immigrants lacking legal status who were brought to the U.S. as children to work and live in the country without fear of deportation. The program does not provide permanent residency, which only Congress can grant. As of September, 589,660 young adults were enrolled in DACA, federal statistics show.

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