In a rebuke to President Donald Trump’s administration, a New York judge on Friday ordered the U.S. government to reopen DACA for immigrants who live in the United States unlawfully after arriving as children.
DACA means Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created by Barack Obama in 2012.
It protects from deportation and grants work permits to hundreds of thousands of immigrants.
DACA recipients and their supporters rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on June 18.
Trump has suspended the programme since 2017. But the Supreme Court in June blocked Trump’s bid to end DACA. His administration, however, continued its policy of not accepting new applications for the program.
Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, who takes office on Jan. 20, has said he plans to revitalize DACA.
In a major ruling on Friday, U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn directed the Department of Homeland Security to post a public notice “displayed prominently” on its websites by Monday announcing that it is accepting new DACA applications.
The judge also ordered that the notice make clear that employment authorization under DACA would last for two years rather than one.
