![Demonstrators arrive in front of the U.S. Supreme Court during a march in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) on Nov. 10. [Jose Luis Magana / AFP via Getty Images]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c30782a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5184x2916+0+0/resize/840x472!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fimages%2Fnews%2Fnpr%2F2020%2F06%2F851794481_804107415.jpg)
The U.S. Supreme Court is upholding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for now, handing a dramatic victory to immigration advocates and granting a respite to some 700,000 immigrants brought to the country illegally as minors.
The 5-4 ruling gives a new lease on life to the s0-called DREAMers who were able to maintain their immigration status in the country because of the Obama-era DACA program. It also is likely to be a rallying cry ahead of the presidential elections in November for both supporters and opponents of immigration.
The Trump administration had maintained that it had no choice but to pull the plug on the program because, as President Trump's attorney general put it in September 2017, the DACA program was "illegal" and "unconstitutional" from the time it was first put in place in 2012 .
Three federal appeals courts disagreed and ruled that when an administration revokes a policy like this, on which so many people, businesses and even the U.S. economy have relied, the administration must provide a fully supported rationale that weighs the pros and cons of the program, the costs and the benefits.
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