New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Monday threatened to sue the Trump administration if President Donald Trump rolls back the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which grants legal status to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.
“President Trump’s decision to end the DACA program would be cruel, gratuitous, and devastating to tens of thousands of New Yorkers—and I will sue to protect them,” Schneiderman said in a statement.
“Dreamers are Americans in every way. They played by the rules. They pay their taxes. And they’ve earned the right to stay in the only home they have ever known. More than 40,000 New Yorkers are protected under DACA. They pay more than $140 million in state and local taxes. They are vital members of our community,” he added.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) also issued a statement supporting Schneiderman’s lawsuit threat over DACA.
“Ending this policy represents an assault on the values that built this state and this nation. The President’s action would upend the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people who have only ever called America their home, including roughly 42,000 New Yorkers. It will rip families apart, sow havoc in our communities and force innocent people—our neighbors, our friends, and our relatives—to live in fear,” Cuomo said.
The President is set to announce his decision on the DACA program on Tuesday. He has reportedly decided to end the program but with a six month delay in implementation that would allow Congress to restore DREAMers’ legal status through legislation. Several Republicans in Congress have voiced their opposition to Trump’s reported decision to end DACA and pledged to pass legislation restoring DACA.
Trump was pressured to roll back the DACA program by a group of Republican attorneys general, who threatened to sue the Trump administration unless the President ended DACA by Tuesday.
