A D.C. federal judge has delivered the toughest blow yet to Trump administration efforts to end deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants, ordering the government to continue the Obama-era program and — for the first time since announcing it would end — reopen it to new applicants.

U.S. District Judge John D. Bates on Tuesday called the government’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program “virtually unexplained” and therefore “unlawful.” However, he stayed his ruling for 90 days to give the Department of Homeland Security a chance to provide more solid reasoning for ending the program.

Bates, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, is the first Republican appointee to rule against President Donald Trump’s move to wind down DACA. Two district court judges appointed by President Bill Clinton — one in San Francisco and one in Brooklyn — previously came to similar conclusions. They also entered injunctions requiring the administration to continue accepting renewals while litigation continued.