A federal court's ruling last week that reinstated the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was cheered by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who had pushed back against a legal challenge from President Trump's administration in the effort to restart it.

The program, known as DACA, provides legal protections for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children.

“Every time the outgoing administration tried to use young immigrants as political scapegoats, they defiled the values of our nation," James said in a statement.

"The court’s order makes clear that fairness, inclusion, and compassion matter. America is where these young people have gone to school, where they have worked, where they have paid taxes, where they have raised families, and where they have continued to be vital members of our communities. We are proud to fight for them and grateful to deliver them the justice they are due.”

A federal court last week ordered the Trump administration and the Department of Homeland Security to reopen the DACA program to first-time applicants and restore protections for two years. 

James's office had challenged the push to end DACA. The U.S. Supreme Court in June ruled the effort to end the program was unlawful. In August, James and a 17-member coalition of attorneys general pushed to have the program restarted after Homeland Security officials balked at granting new applications.