Fifteen states and the District of Columbia has taken the U.S. government to court to block President Donald Trump’s plan to end protection against deportation for young immigrants
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Brooklyn asked a judge to strike down as unconstitutional the president’s action involving the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program or DACA.
It called the move “a culmination of President Trump’s oft-stated commitments … to punish and disparage people with Mexican roots.”
The Attorneys general who brought the lawsuit — all Democrats said the 800,000 people with protected status under the program are largely model citizens. They were brought to the U.S. illegally as children or came with families who overstayed visas.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday says rescinding DACA will injure state-run colleges and universities, upset workplaces and damage companies and economies that include immigrants covered under the program.
The lawsuit noted that Harvard University has over 50 DACA students while Tufts University has more than 25. Both schools are in Massachusetts.
“The consequence of the president’s animus-driven decision is that approximately 800,000 persons who have availed themselves of the program will ultimately lose its protections” and be exposed to deportation, the lawsuit says.
It is “cruel, shortsighted, inhumane” and driven by a personal bias against Mexicans and Latinos, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said.
Meanwhile, Devin M. O’Malley, a Justice Department spokesman, said the agency looks forward to defending the administration’s position.
Under former President Barack Obama, Justice Department lawyers concluded in 2014 that DACA is lawful.
