Lawyers, advocates and students in Boston and beyond Thursday celebrated a Supreme Court ruling that blocked the Trump administration from ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. But they said more needs to be done to solidify the status of the unauthorized immigrants it protects and others.

Under DACA, which the Obama administration established in 2012, certain individuals who were brought to the United States as children are protected from deportation and are allowed to work legally and go to college.

DACA has been a target of President Donald Trump throughout his time in office, but the Supreme Court called the Department of Homeland Security's decision to end the program "arbitrary and capricious," allowing the program to continue for now.

Leo Garcia, a rising senior at Harvard and DACA recipient, came to the United States from Colombia when he was about three. He admitted the ruling wasn't the decision he was expecting.

"And while it's not a permanent solution or a solution that, you know, goes to even cover the majority of undocumented immigrants in the nation, it is a small relief," he said.

Bianca DeSousa, who just graduated from UMass Boston, said her expectations were the opposite of Garcia's. She came to the United States from Brazil as a three-year-old and has lived in Stoughton since then. She said she had faith that DACA wouldn't be overturned.

"Today is a really good day for a lot of us and it's definitely worth celebrating," she said. "But it's definitely not the end. We still have a lot of work to be done, we still have a lot to fight for, to reach that ultimate goal and that is to be able to apply and obtain U.S. citizenship."

Oren Nimni, a staff attorney with Boston-based Lawyers for Civil Rights, said that DACA protects 5,640 residents of Massachusetts.

"This [ruling] means not only can they live here without fear that they'll be picked up and deported, but that they can also continue to go to university, can continue to have jobs, can continue to be in our communities," he said.

Nimni said if those DACA recipients had been deported, Massachusetts would have lost tax revenue, jobs and, at colleges, intellectual production.

The decision is another big one from the court, coming the same week it ruled the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects LGBTQ employees from discimination.

Jason Corral, a staff attorney at the Harvard Representation Initiative, works with DACA recipients. He noted that in the DACA case the court ruled the administration didn't follow proper procedures for ending the program.

"I wasn't expecting that, not because I didn't believe that wasn't a strong argument, but I cound't imagine the possiblity of folks getting a reprieve such as this from the Supreme Court," he said.

Corral estimates around 100 students at Harvard have DACA protection.

Because the court's decision did not consider the merits of the program, Corral said he's concerned the Trump administration can still try again to rescind DACA.

That's why Garcia said the fight's not over for DACA recepients and all other unauthorized immigrants.

"I think it's more of a reminder that there's so much more that can be done that isn't being done at the national level and at the local level to protect those that aren't even considered under DACA," he said.

When DeSousa woke up Thursday morning, her dad was already celebrating the decision. Everything since then has been a bit of a blur, she said.

Still, she said for her and other DACA recipients the ruling isn't the final victory they're looking for.

"We're American in our minds, but we're not American on paper," she said. "And just being reminded of that constantly, especially in the Trump administration, that was kind of like a slap in the face. So I'm sure today they're all just as happy as I am and willing to celebrate. But I'm sure that they also all know that, again, there's a lot that we need to be fighting for, but today definitely marks a win."