Second federal judge blocks Trump's order to end DACA


A federal judge has blocked President Trump from ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, saying the administration's justification was not "legally adequate." Under DACA, which Barack Obama created via executive order, young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children can apply for legal protections. The Trump administration announced in September that the program would expire on March 5. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued to protect DACA, eventually resulting in today's ruling.
This isn't the first time a judge has blocked Trump on DACA. In January, a federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration to again start accepting DACA renewal applications. Tuesday's ruling goes farther, saying that the Trump administration must start processing new DACA applications.
The judge in Tuesday's ruling called Trump's DACA decision "arbitrary and capricious," and noted that while the administration had claimed that DACA's implementation by Obama was unconstitutional, Trump's tweets about revisiting DACA suggested that he thought the president was well within his right to use executive authority this way.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Trump administration has yet to comment publicly on the ruling, which you can read in full here.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.
-
The Week contest: Flight fraud
Puzzles and Quizzes
-
Is Trump sidelining Congress' war powers?
Today's Big Question The Iran attack renews a long-running debate
-
6 productivity-ready homes with great offices
Feature Featuring an office with a gas fireplace in Oregon and a shared workspace with wraparound windows in Massachusetts
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
Mamdani upsets Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary
Speed Read Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from
-
Judges order release of 2 high-profile migrants
Speed Read Kilmar Ábrego García is back in the US and Mahmoud Khalil is allowed to go home — for now
-
US assessing bomb damage to Iran nuclear sites
Speed Read Trump claims this weekend's US bombing obliterated Tehran's nuclear program, while JD Vance insists the US is 'not at war with Iran'
-
Trump's LA deployment in limbo after court rulings
Speed Read Judge Breyer ruled that Trump's National Guard deployment to Los Angeles was an 'illegal' overreach. But a federal appellate court halted the ruling.
-
Marines, National Guard in LA can detain Americans
speed read The troops have been authorized to detain anyone who interferes with immigration raids
-
Trump vows 'very big force' against parade protesters
Speed Read The parade, which will shut down much of the capital, will celebrate the US Army's 250th anniversary and Trump's 79th birthday