Donald Trump dealt immigration blow by Dreamers ruling

The US Supreme Court has ruled that Donald Trump cannot end protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought illegally into the country as children, denting the US President’s plan to reform immigration law.

Judges rejected an appeal by the White House against an injunction that halted the attempt to rescind a programme that shields the immigrants, known as ‘Dreamers’, implemented by Barack Obama in 2012.

Under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) programme, roughly 700,000 young adults are protected from deportation and given work permits for two-year periods.

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The White House has argued the programme is unconstitutional - yet efforts to wind it down, and in some cases deport Dreamers, have proved hugely controversial.

More than 80% of Americans support giving Dreamers permanent residency in the US, “but Democrats and Republicans have been unable to strike a deal because conservatives want to tie help for Dreamers to strict new border control measures”, the Financial Times reports.

The status of Dreamers was the major sticking point during last month’s federal government shutdown.

But with Republican-held Congress unwilling to give them permanent residency, the Supreme Court ruling offers only a temporary respite for Dreamers who “could remain in legal limbo for months”, says The New York Times.

In April, the Supreme Court is due to hear arguments on the legality of Trump’s latest travel ban, which affects people from several Muslim-majority nations.