Rolling Stone Federal Judge Blocks New DACA Applications for ‘Dreamers’ Who Came to U.S. as Kids A federal judge ruled that the executive branch did not have a right to create the program allowing “Dreamers” to remain in the country because Congress hadn’t granted it the power to do so By AFP via Getty Images A federal judge in Texas has suspended an immigration program that has protected from deportation thousands of undocumented young adult immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. Created by former president Barack Obama with a 2012 executive order, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals protects these immigrants, known as “Dreamers,” from being sent to their country of origin after they have spent years living in the U.S. as long as they entered the country before age 16 or applied for the program before age 30.