NEW YORK”•A coalition of US states sued the Trump administration Wednesday over its decision to end an amnesty program for 800,000 people brought illegally to the United States as minors.
The lawsuit was filed in New York federal court by Democratic attorneys general of 15 states including New York, Illinois and Hawaii, as well as the District of Columbia.
It alleges the White House discriminated against immigrants of Mexican origin, who are the vast majority of the amnesty program’s recipients, and violated Constitutional due-process rights that protect against arbitrary punishment.
The Donald Trump administration said Tuesday it was ending the Deferred Acton for Childhood Arrivals or DACA program instituted by Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama. The Republican president said Congress should instead enact immigration reform.
In announcing the lawsuit, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman accused Trump of “anti-Mexican bias.”
“The Trump administration’s decision to end DACA is cruel, inhumane and devastating,” Schneiderman said in a statement.
“These DREAMers play by the rules. They work hard and pay taxes. America is the only home they have ever known”•and they deserve to stay here and keep contributing to our state and our nation.”
The lawsuit comes after Texas, leading a different coalition of 10 conservative states, on Tuesday dropped a legal challenge to DACA first filed in 2015.
Mexico on Tuesday condemned Trump’s decision to end the amnesty program, expressing “deep worry” for the uncertainty they now face.
“Mexico deeply regrets the cancellation” of the program,” President Enrique Pena said in a tweet.
“The Mexican government will urge US authorities to find a swift, permanent solution that gives legal certainty to the young people of DACA,” he wrote.
Trump announced that the permits issued under the program would be gradually phased out as they expire over the next six to 24 months.