A federal judge temporarily blocked the decision of President Donald Trump’s administration to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. This program allows certain immigrants who arrived in the United States illegally as kids to stay and work without fear of deportation.
According to Judge William Alsup, the program dating back to former President Barack Obama’s era must remain in place while litigation over Trump’s decision to end the program plays out. In a court ruling, Alsup stated that the decision of the Department of Homeland Security to rescind DACA was based on a flawed legal premise, The Hill reports.
This way, those DACA recipients who did not manage to renew their status by last year’s deadline will have a chance to submit a renewal application. Yet, the decision does not allow new applications to be submitted.
According to California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the lives of the “Dreamers” were thrown into chaos when the administration tried to end DACA without obeying the law.
“Today’s ruling is a huge step in the right direction. America is and has been home to Dreamers who courageously came forward, applied for DACA and did everything the federal government asked of them. They followed DACA’s rules, they succeeded in school, at work and in business, and they have contributed in building a better America. We will fight at every turn for their rights and opportunities so they may continue to contribute to America,” Becerra said.
Several months ago Trump announced that he would rescind DACA, which has protected about 800,000 people. The program was one of the issues discussed at a bipartisan immigration meeting on Tuesday.
According to the Department of Justice, the judge’s decision doesn’t change the fact that the program was an illegal circumvention of Congress, and it is within the agency’s power to end it, Associated Press reports.
“The Justice Department will continue to vigorously defend this position, and looks forward to vindicating its position in further litigation,” Devin O’Malley, the department’s spokesman said.
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