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Trump Administration Resumes Accepting DACA Renewals Following Court Order

BALTIMORE (WJZ/CNN) -- Under a federal court order, the federal government announced Saturday night that it has resumed accepting renewal requests for the DACA program.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, posted on its website that the renewal process for grants of deferred action under the Deferred Actions for Childhood Arrivals will resume immediately. The administration said in September that it was concluding the program.

The USCIS released the following statement:

"Due to a federal court order, USCIS has resumed accepting requests to renew a grant of deferred action under DACA.  Until further notice, and unless otherwise provided in this guidance, the DACA policy will be operated on the terms in place before it was rescinded on Sept. 5, 2017."

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge William Alsup issued a preliminary injunction blocking President Donald Trump's decision to end the Obama-era initiative. The program granted temporary protection from deportation to hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children, often referred to as "dreamers."

The agency said it won't be processing applications for those who have never before received DACA protections and no new applications will be accepted.

Trump had criticized the judicial process, noting that the ruling could still be overturned. He tweeted Friday that the move was a "big step backwards."

The president reiterated that he wants a merit-based immigration system.

The-CNN-Wire
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