A federal US judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration's decision to end a programme protecting young immigrants from deportation. <br/><br/>US District Judge William Alsup granted a request by California and other plaintiffs to prevent President Donald Trump from ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme while their lawsuits play out in court. <br/><br/>Alsup said lawyers in favour of DACA clearly demonstrated that the young immigrants "were likely to suffer serious, irreparable harm" without court action. The judge also said the lawyers have a strong chance of succeeding at trial. <br/><br/>DACA has protected about 800,000 people who were brought to the US illegally as children or came with families who overstayed visas. The programme includes hundreds of thousands of college-age students. <br/><br/>Earlier yesterday, President Donald Trump and congressional leaders from both parties met at the White House to discuss the DACA programme and other immigration issues as they sought a bipartisan deal to avoid a government shutdown, which could occur in 10 days. <br/><br/>US Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced in September that the programme would be phased out, saying former President Barack Obama had exceeded his authority when he implemented it in 2012.