The Latest: Judge grills Trump lawyer on immigration policy

SAN FRANCISCO – The Latest on a court hearing over lawsuits against the Trump administration’s decision to end a program protecting some young immigrants from deportation (all times local):

12 p.m.

A U.S. judge grilled a Justice Department attorney over the Trump administration’s justification for ending a program protecting some young immigrants from deportation.

During a court hearing Wednesday, U.S. District Judge William Alsup questioned whether the administration had conducted a thorough review before the decision.

He says beneficiaries of former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program had come to rely on it and faced a real and palpable hardship from its loss.

Justice Department attorney Brad Rosenberg says the administration considered the effects of ending DACA and decided to phase it out over time instead of cutting it immediately.

Alsup is considering five lawsuits seeking to block President Donald Trump from rescinding DACA. He’s also considering a government request to dismiss the suits.

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12:30 a.m.

Five lawsuits against the Trump administration’s decision to end a program protecting some young immigrants from deportation face a key federal court hearing in San Francisco that could put an early end to the legal challenges or give them a big boost.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup will hear arguments on Wednesday to determine whether to block President Donald Trump from rescinding the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program while the lawsuits by California and other plaintiffs play out in court. The judge is also considering a request by the Trump administration to throw the lawsuits out.

DACA has protected about 800,000 people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children or came with families who overstayed visas. It currently includes hundreds of thousands of college-age students.

Alsup is not expected to rule immediately.