The Trump administration’s plan to phaseout the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is legal, a federal judge ruled Monday.

Judge Roger W. Titus said the DACA rescission memo and the six-month phaseout provided an opportunity for Congress to do their job.

“This decision took control of a pell-mell situation and provided Congress — the branch of government charged with determining immigration policy — an opportunity to remedy it. Given the reasonable belief that DACA was unlawful, the decision to wind down DACA in an orderly manner was rational,” the judge wrote.

Some argued that Trump’s inflammatory tweets should be used against the administration’s memo, but Titus disagreed.

“As disheartening or inappropriate as the president’s occasionally disparaging remarks may be, they are not relevant to the larger issues governing the DACA rescission. The DACA Rescission Memo is clear as to its purpose and reasoning, and its decision is rationally supported by the administrative record.”

Titus’ ruling doesn’t affect the nationwide injunctions already in place, issued by federal judges in New York and California. It does give the administration ammunition in appeals filed in those cases, though.

Titus also ruled that the government cannot use data DACA recipients provided as part of the program in deportation proceedings against them.

The Justice Department released a statement on the dismissal:

https://twitter.com/Anna_Giaritelli/status/970858080706662401

In Monday’s ruling, Judge Titus said he didn’t like the outcome of the ruling, that the court was “constrained by its constitutionally limited role,” and exhorted the President and Congress to reach an agreement.