A lawsuit by states seeking to end protected status for children whose parents brought them to the U.S. illegally could spare President Donald Trump from personally halting the Obama administration program.

Or, immigration experts say, such litigation could force Democrats in Congress to bargain on stricter enforcement of immigration law.

Last month, 10 state attorneys general, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, wrote U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions calling for the Trump administration to end a program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

The program shields from deportation those who were minors when their parents brought them to the country illegally, a population their advocates call “dreamers.”

According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 1.4 million DACA requests were accepted.

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Besides Paxton, those signing the letter to Sessions include the attorneys general of Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter also signed.

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