For Some Undocumented Immigrants, a Brief Exhale

A federal court order has put a snag in the Trump Administration's immigration agenda, clearing the way for some children of immigrants who came to the United States illegally or overstayed their visas to reapply to stay here.

The Trump Administration last fall moved to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that was started under President Barack Obama, and known as DACA. The program allowed young immigrants to live and work in the U.S. legally.

Last week, a federal judge in San Francisco temporarily blocked the Trump Administration's decision to end DACA, and on Saturday, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website announced it would resume taking renewal applications.

Only those who formerly held permits are eligible. Immigrants who never applied cannot apply as a result of the court order.

Immigration activists called it a welcome reprieve, but they said a permanent path to citizenship is needed.

Nedia Morsey, an organizer with Make the Road New Jersey, said there are more than 50,000 undocumented immigrants in the state who are eligible for DACA, but never applied. Another 22,000 have gotten DACA permits.

She said the federal ruling is significant.

"It really confirms what we knew all the while, that the Trump Administration decision to end DACA had really no legal basis, and was motivated largely by racism and hate," she said Sunday. Her organization will be holding DACA workshops this month.

Cinthia Osorio is a DACA recipient and college student who was brought to the United States from Mexico at age 3. She said she had prepared her family that one day she could be deported; they already exchanged I-love-you's in case they didn't get a chance later, she said.

Osorio said the chance to renew DACA means she can graduate in May, and work for at least two years. But she said a permanent immigration law is needed, one that gets her out of the shadows, and "that trauma and that fear of randomly getting picked up one day."