US immigration authorities will resume accepting requests under the so-called Dreamers scheme that shields young people brought to the country illegally from deportation.

A judge last week blocked a Trump administration government decision to end the Obama -era program.

On Saturday, the citizenship and immigration services said on its website that people who previously received a grant of protection under the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (Daca) may apply for a renewal under the terms in place before it was rescinded in September.

District judge William Alsup of the 9th circuit issued a ruling in San Francisco last week that temporarily blocked a decision by the government to end Daca later this year. Congress is debating whether or not to write new legislation that would grant legal status to the immigrants, who were brought to the US as children and remain in the country illegally.

Former president Barack Obama enacted Daca to keep the undocumented immigrants, known as dreamers, from being deported.

The immigration office said that deferments under Daca do not confer legal residency but gives prosecutors discretion on enforcing immigration laws.