Back in November, Trump made the announcement that he wanted to repeal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program created under the Obama Administration. The program was created for children who immigrated to America illegally, who are not prioritized for deportation if they are recipients of the program, otherwise known as “Dreamers”.

Federal Judge John D. Bates of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia has recently ruled that DACA protections must stay in place and the government must resume accepting new applications. Although Trump believed the grounds of the program were “unlawful,” Bates stated that the move to end the program was “unexplainable.” Bates is giving Homeland Security 90 days to come up with a better reasoning for cancelling the program, and if it can’t then it must accept the program and process new DACA applications. Federal Judges William Alsup in Brooklyn and Nicholas Garaufis in San Francisco have issued injunctions ordering the program to remain in place in recent months. Neither of these previous decisions required the government to accept new applications.

Trump administration lacks authority to rescind DACA, insufficient under the Administrative Procedure Act, which states that courts shall hold unlawful and set aside agency action found to be arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” Trump’s decision to phase out DACA was “arbitrary and capricious because the department failed adequately to explain its conclusion that the program was unlawful” according to Judge Bates.

Many are overjoyed with the court’s ruling. “I think that Trump trying to repeal the DACA was a bad move on his part. Immigrants help our economy, overall culture, life, and the general life entire of the entire country. Immigrants create jobs, provide culture, and bring diversity to the country,” junior Xavier Henry said. “I’m glad the federal court realized the importance of immigrants in the country and disagreed with Trump’s repeal move.”

Chelsea Hignite, another junior at Reynolds stated, “I believe that America needs to be a open and accepting country. Children brought to the US before they are even old enough to speak are rightfully citizens and deserve to be treated that way.  Repealing the program would not be fair to the children who only know life inside the US.”

All America can do now is wait and see if the Trump administration devises a legitimate reason to repeal the program. For now, the dreamers are safe.