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Supreme Court will review immigration dispute over law aimed at keeping families together

June 24, 2013 at 2:11PM

FILE - In this June 15, 2012 file photo, Ricky Campos, 23, of Silver Spring, Md., left, Katye Hernandez, 22, both illegal immigrants originally from El Salvador, who live in Silver Spring, Md., rallied outside the White House in support of the president's announcement that the U.S. government will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. by their parents when they were children. (Associated Press - Ap/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is wading into a complicated immigration dispute about the status of children who have become adults during their parents' years-long wait to become legal permanent residents of the United States.

The justices said Monday they will hear an appeal from the Obama administration arguing that those children in most cases should go to the back of the line in their own wait for visas to live in this country.

The case concerns how to treat a prospective immigrant who turns 21, under a provision of the Child Status Protection Act intended to keep immigrant families together.

Proposed immigration legislation before the Senate includes a provision that would favor children who turn 21 during their parents' lengthy wait to win approval to live in the United States.