Appeals court rules against Trump on DACA immigrant policy

A U.S. appeals court has ruled President Trump can’t immediately end an Obama-era program shielding young immigrants from deportation.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals kept in place a preliminary injunction blocking Trump's decision to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Lawsuits by California and others challenging the administration's decision will continue in federal court while the injunction remains in place.

DACA has protected some 700,000 people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children or came with families that overstayed visas.

The Trump administration has said it moved to end the program last year because Texas and other states threatened to sue, raising the prospect of a chaotic end to DACA.

The decision prompted lawsuits across the nation, including one by California. A judge overseeing that lawsuit and four others ruled against the administration and reinstated the program in January.