A judge prevents the Trump administration from ending some protections of immigrants

A federal judge in San Francisco prevented the Trump government from ending the special protections afforded to immigrants from four war-torn countries and natural disasters, temporarily easing more than 300,000 people from the threat of deportation.

Immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan, some of whom have been living in the United States for two decades, welcomed Wednesday's decision to maintain the program, which was promulgated in 1990 by the president. George Bush. The program includes more than 263,000 Salvadorans, nearly 59,000 Haitians, more than 5,000 Nicaraguans and more than 1,000 Sudanese, according to the court.

Judge Edward M. Chen did not comment on the merits of the case. But in the injunction, he said the beneficiaries, if they were deported, "would undoubtedly suffer irreparable harm and great hardship," many had to choose between taking their children born in the United States or separating their family.

The injunction was another example of a judge using President Trump's own words on immigration against him. Judge Chen quoted comments in the president's speeches and Twitter posts as evidence of an "animus against non-white and non-European immigrants". He wrote that there was "indirect evidence that race was a motivator".

The administration, determined to contain legal and illegal immigration, says the program has become a near-permanent advantage and that countries are no longer facing the difficulties they have experienced in granting protection. The government canceled the status of Bosnia and Herzegovina after a civil war in the 1990s and Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia after the Ebola crisis in 2014.

The court's decision is likely to be appealed. Devin O'Malley, a spokesman for the Justice Department, said the decision "usurps the role of executive power in our constitutional order."

"The Department of Justice completely rejects the idea that the White House or the US Department of Homeland Security has acted inappropriately," he said in a statement. "We will continue to fight for the integrity of our immigration and national security laws."

In Los Angeles, home to the largest Salvadorian population in the country, the news of the decision quickly spread.

Veronica Lagunas, a mother of two American children, said the judge's decision restores hope and safety for her family.

"For us, wow, it's a big win," said Ms. Lagunas, who works at night cleaning offices. "It gives us more time to keep fighting."

As for the judicial proceedings relating to the efforts of the administration ban travel to the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries, Mr. Trump seems to have undermined his case by his inflammatory remarks. The court cited several examples, including his 2015 campaign announcement speech in which he had criticized Mexican immigrants and his appeal later that year for "a total and total closure of Muslims entering the United States." ".