Voting in Aitkin, Columbia Heights, Faribault, Little Falls, Staples-Motley and Wayzata

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

A federal judge in California temporarily blocked the Trump administration's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program late Tuesday night.

Widely known as DACA, the program protects young immigrants from deportation. In September, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the program would be phased out.

President Obama implemented the program in 2012; it has protected about 800,000 people who were brought to the United States as children by their families, some of whom overstayed their visas. Under the program, young adults, often referred to as "Dreamers," have been permitted to live and work legally in the U.S.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco granted a request by California and other states to keep DACA going, at least until lawsuits can play out in court.


Responding to the news on Wednesday morning, 

, "It just shows everyone how broken and unfair our Court System is when the opposing side in a case (such as DACA) always runs to the 9th Circuit and almost always wins before being reversed by higher courts."


Trump has said that any deal to extend DACA must include plans for a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico.

, Alsup wrote that lawyers for the immigrants' "have clearly demonstrated that they are likely  to suffer serious, irreparable harm," unless the court steps in with an injunction. 


"DACA covers a class of immigrants whose presence, seemingly all agree, pose the least, if any, threat and allows them to sign up for honest labor on the condition of continued good behavior," Alsup wrote. "This has become an important program for DACA recipients and their families, for the employers who hire them, for our tax treasuries, and for our economy."

said in a statement after Tuesday's decision:


"Dreamers' lives were thrown into chaos when the Trump administration tried to terminate the DACA program without obeying the law. Tonight's ruling is a huge step in the right direction."

However, the Trump administration could appeal Alsup's ruling.

Justice Department spokesman Devin O'Malley issued a statement last night:

The judge's ruling came hours after Trump met with lawmakers at the White House, to discuss the DACA program and other immigration issues.

The president also addressed the issue of a border wall with Mexico, saying the U.S. needs one "in certain areas obviously that aren't protected by nature" and where existing fences are in bad shape and need to be fixed or rebuilt.

Education News

Politics and Government News

Doreen McCallister

Author

U.S. District Judge William Alsup granted a request by California and other states, and ordered the administration to continue the program that protects young immigrants from deportation.

Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump's decision to end DACA

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox