A narrowly divided Supreme Court extended Thursday a life-support line to some 650,000 so-called "Dreamers," allowing them to remain safe from deportation for now, while the Trump administration jumps through the administrative hoops that the court said are required before ending the program.
The vote was 5-to-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts casting the decisive fifth vote that sought to bridge the liberal and conservative wings of the court.
Roberts and the court's four liberal justices said the Department of Homeland Security's decision to rescind DACA was arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act.
In his opinion, Roberts wrote: "The appropriate recourse is therefore to remand to DHS so that it may reconsider the problem anew."
The decision has been highly anticipated in California which has the most DACA recipients of any state — about 200,000.
It is perhaps no surprise then that DACA has high levels of support in the state. A 2018 Public Policy Institute of California found that 81% of likely voters in California favor the protections offered by DACA.
READ MORE ON THE LOCAL REACTION AND IMPACT:
Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily newsletters. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now.
