A federal judge in North Dakota on Monday stopped the Biden administration from implementing a new policy that would make certain illegal immigrants eligible for government-backed health care coverage.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor granted a request to block a new policy from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that would allow individuals given Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) status to enroll in Obamacare. Traynor said that Kansas and the 18 Republican attorney generals who sued the Biden administration were likely to succeed and gave them a stay against the policy. 

Traynor said that CMS broke the law earlier this year when it changed the definition of people “lawfully present” in the United States to include DACA recipients. Those with DACA status crossed illegally into America as minors with their parents and were shielded from deportation via an executive order from President Barack Obama. 

“The authority granted to CMS by the ACA [Affordable Care Act] is to ascertain whether an individual meets the requirements for lawful status. It by no means allows the agency to circumvent congressional authority and redefine the term ‘lawfully present,’” Traynor wrote. 

“As it currently stands, the ACA does not allow federal healthcare subsidies or coverage for aliens who are unlawfully present in the United States,” he added. 

Traynor also agreed with the Republican attorneys general that the policy would encourage illegal aliens to remain in their states with the draw of health care. 

The decision was praised by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who led the suit against the policy. 

“Big win for the rule of law. Congress never intended that illegal aliens should receive Obama care benefits,” he said. “Indeed, two laws prohibit them from receiving such benefits. The Biden administration tried to break those laws. But we fought back, and defeated the Justice Department.”

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The other states that were part of the suit included Ohio, Idaho,  Nebraska,  South  Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, Tennessee, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Arkansas. They argued that the rule from the Biden administration was arbitrary and capricious, and would incentivize illegal immigration. 

In response to the ruling, CMS said that it was reviewing the decision but could not comment further. 

The rule change was opposed by President-elect Donald Trump, with campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt decrying it in May as “unfair and unsustainable.” 

“Joe Biden‘s handouts for illegal immigrants are especially devastating to Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, and union workers who are forced to watch their jobs and public resources stolen by people who illegally entered our country,” Leavitt, Trump’s incoming press secretary, said at the time.

Last month, another judge struck down a parole program from the Biden administration that would have granted legal status to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.