The US Supreme Court dealt President Donald Trump's efforts to choke off immigration a fresh blow Thursday when it rejected his cancellation of the DACA program protecting 700,000 "Dreamers", undocumented migrants brought to the United States as children.
The high court said Mr Trump's 2017 move to cancel his predecessor Barack Obama's landmark Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was "arbitrary and capricious" under government administrative procedures.
The judgement on a five-to-four vote, with Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the court's four liberal members, stressed that it was not an assessment of the correctness of the 2012 DACA program itself.
Instead, they said the Trump administration had violated official government procedures in the way they sought to quickly rescind DACA in September 2017 based on weak legal justifications.
The ruling suggested there are legal administrative methods Mr Trump could cancel DACA, putting the onus back on the administration if it wants to pursue the issue.
It is , after it ruled on Monday employers could no longer discriminate against workers because of their sexual orientation.
A group of people rally outside the United States Supreme Court in Washington D.C., U.S., on Thursday, June 18, 2020. Source: CNP/Sipa USA
'The American way'
Immigration champions and Dreamers cheered the narrow ruling.
"Eight years ago this week, we protected young people who were raised as part of our American family from deportation," Mr Obama tweeted.
"Today, I'm happy for them, their families, and all of us. We may look different and come from everywhere, but what makes us American are our shared ideals."
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the ruling prolonged the life of a program she said was supported by three-quarters of Americans, Democrats and Republicans alike.
"This way is the American way and I'm very proud of it," she said.
Jesus Contreras, a Houston paramedic under DACA who came to the US from Mexico as a child, said he had prepared for the worst.
"I know it is not the end of the battle," he said.
"We still have to fight for legislation but right now it is a good feeling to know that we are protected and safe at least for now," he said.
Campaign issue
On Twitter, Mr Trump turned the decision into a call to support him in the November presidential election so that he can appoint more conservative justices to the high court.
"These horrible & 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," Mr Trump wrote.
"We need more Justices or we will lose our 2nd. Amendment & everything else. Vote Trump 2020!"
Anti-immigrant policy
The decision came three and a half years after Mr Trump entered office promising to halt almost all immigration and to expel the more than 10 million people estimated living in the country, many for decades, without legal immigration documents.
The Obama administration had sought to address this issue in 2012 with the DACA policy offering protection at renewable two-year periods, including authorization to work, to people brought into the United States illegally as children and then growing up here.
DACA, and the subsequent DAPA program - Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents - were executive actions by Mr Obama to eliminate the constant threat of deportation for more than 4 million undocumented migrants.
Mr Obama ordered the programs due to Congress's inability to pass the so-called Dream Act, which would have created a law offering essentially permanent residency to millions of immigrants long settled in the country, families with homes, businesses and professions.
Mr Trump cancelled DAPA just after coming to office and then went after the more established DACA, but immediately faced a series of court battles over it.
