The US Supreme Court has rejected Donald Trump’s bid to end the program which made it possible for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children, to live and work in the US without fear of deportation.

Enacted under former President Barack Obama in 2012, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) allowed these immigrants to get renewable, two-year authorizations to live and work in the country.  

Chief Justice John Roberts was the swing vote in the 5-4 decision, which deals a big legal defeat to President Donald Trump on the issue of  immigration,  a major focus of his domestic agenda.

CJ Roberts ruled that the government failed to give an adequate justification for ending the federal program.

“We conclude that the acting secretary did violate” the Administrative Procedure Act, and that the decision to rescind DACA “must be vacated,” Roberts wrote, calling the move “arbitrary and capricious.”

President Trump took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the rulings, tweeting  “These horrible & politically charged decisions coming out of the Supreme Court are shotgun blasts into the face of people that are proud to call themselves Republicans or Conservatives. We need more Justices or we will lose our 2nd. Amendment & everything else.”