A US appeals court has declared a program protecting thousands of young immigrants from deportation unlawful, but allowed it to remain in place for current recipients.

The verdict on Wednesday upholds a federal judge's order to curb the program, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), in July 2021.

The court mandated that a program change made by the Biden administration be reviewed by a lower court. The new regulation issued in August tried to fortify DACA against judicial challenges.

The appeals court said it did not have enough information to rule on the Biden regulation, which is scheduled to go into effect on October 31.

"The legal questions that DACA presents are serious, both to the parties and to the public," the three judges from the conservative-leaning 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in the ruling.

"In our view, the defendants have not shown that there is a likelihood that they will succeed on the merits."

US President Joe Biden said he was "disappointed" in the appeals court ruling and suggested that Congress should pass legislation to make the policy permanent.

The 'Dreamers' program

DACA, which covers undocumented migrants brought to the country as children, was instituted by then-President Barack Obama in 2012. It confers legal status as well as the right to work to around 700,000 people.

But DACA recipients — called "Dreamers" — have been plagued by years of insecurity and legal squabbling.

Former President Donald Trump tried to end the program in 2017, but his efforts were derailed when the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-to-4 vote that the administration's attempts to discontinue the program were not supported by enough evidence. 

In 2018, Texas and a coalition of states with Republican attorneys general sued to end DACA, arguing it was illegally implemented. 

Since entering office, President Joe Biden has tried to bolster the program while working on wider immigration reforms.

But in July last year, US District Court Judge Andrew Hanen in Texas sided with the coalition of states and declared DACA "unlawful," saying that Obama exceeded his authority when he instituted the scheme by executive order.

The Biden administration appealed the decision.

Desperately seeking a road to citizenship

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement that the department is currently reviewing the court's decision and will work with the Department of Justice on an appropriate legal response.

"I am deeply disappointed by today's DACA ruling and the ongoing uncertainty it creates for families and communities across the country," Mayorkas said.

With Wednesday's ruling leaving the future of "Dreamers" uncertain, advocacy groups and DACA recipients pushed for more concrete action to resolve the status of the childhood arrivals.

Mario Lorenzana De Witt, a 27-year old "Dreamer" and medical student in Syracuse, New York, told Reuters that "the uncertainty still remains," adding "We desperately need a pathway to citizenship."

"It is beyond time for Congress and Biden to act on their promises to secure permanent protections for Dreamers, including a pathway to citizenship, once and for all," the advocacy group Families Belong Together said in a statement.

ss/nm (AP, AFP, Reuters)