Renee Jones Schneider/ZUMA
Fifteen states and the District of Columbia are suing to block President Donald Trump’s plan to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, claiming the move is in violation of the Constitution’s due process clause. The lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in New York, lists several of the president’s statements during the campaign as evidence that his decision to end the program, known as DACA, is discriminatory and aimed to “punish and disparage people with Mexican roots.”
On Tuesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the president’s decision, which will now leave it up to Congress to pass a legislative replacement in the next six months. The announcement immediately sparked nationwide protests and calls to fight the administration’s latest move on immigration.
“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 will be exposed to removal when their authorizations expire and they cannot seek renewal,” the lawsuit read.
In 2012, then-President Barack Obama used his executive power to create the program that shielded nearly 800,000 immigrants who arrived to the country as children from the threat of deportation. It also allowed recipients referred to as Dreamers to receive employment authorization documents.
The states included in the lawsuit are New York, Massachusetts, Washington, Connecticut, Delaware, District Of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia.
After hinting on Twitter he might reconsider the decision in six months, the president on Wednesday said he had “no second thoughts” about the plan.
Read the lawsuit below:
