Washington: In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court has rejected Donald Trump administration’s plan to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
The Barack Obama-era program provided legal protections and work permits to “Dreamers” – undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children..
The court, in a 5-4 opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts, said the administration acted arbitrarily when it moved to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, failing to offer adequate reasons for doing so, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“The dispute before the Court is not whether (Department of Homeland Security) may rescind DACA. All parties agree that it may,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in a majority opinion that was joined by the court’s more liberal justices.
Justice Clarence Thomas, in his dissent, argued that the Obama-era program was “unlawful from its inception”.
Most of the children protected by the DACA programme are from Mexico and other Latin American countries.
DACA recipients told BBC that they were relieved and surprised by the ruling on Thursday, and many said they would continue advocating for immigration reform.
“It’s a very needed win and this is giving us the fuel we needed to continue moving forward and to keep fighting for the rest of our families and the community that does not have DACA,” one recipient said.
Abolishment of the DACA program was a key part of Trump’s hardline immigration policy.
Slamming the court’s decision, Trump wrote in a series of tweets, “These horrible and politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives.”
In a second tweet, he wrote, “Do you get the impression that the Supreme Court doesn’t like me?”
Approximately, 700,000 people are now enrolled in DACA, which allows a renewable two-year deferral from deportation and makes applicants eligible for work permits, driver’s licenses, and health insurance.
Trump announced intentions to rescind DACA in September 2017.
