Washington D.C., 15 states suing White House over DACA

Lawsuit calls move to cancel ‘indefensible,’ says action will hurt companies, colleges

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia sued the U.S. government Wednesday to block President Donald Trump’s plan to end protection against deportation for young immigrants who New York’s attorney general labelled the “best of America.”

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 — represent states where the population of DACA participants ranges from hundreds to tens of thousands. They were brought to the U.S. illegally as children or came with families who overstayed visas.

Trump’s plan is “cruel, short-sighted, inhumane” and driven by a personal bias against Mexicans and Latinos, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said. He said the 42,000 New Yorkers under the program are largely model citizens.

“They are the best of America,” Schneiderman said. “Dreamers play by the rules. Dreamers work hard. Dreamers pay taxes. For most of them, America is the only home they’ve ever known. And they deserve to stay here,” he added, using the term that came from a failed piece of legislation called the DREAM Act.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum called the government’s action “indefensible” and said Trump was “playing chicken” by giving Congress six months to improve DACA or cancel it.

Under former president Barack Obama, Justice Department lawyers concluded in 2014 that DACA is lawful. The lawsuit filed Wednesday says rescinding DACA will injure staterun colleges and universities, upset workplaces and damage companies and economies that include immigrants covered under the program.

“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.

Plaintiffs 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.