Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson is filing a lawsuit involving multiple states over President Donald Trump's plan to end a program protecting young immigrants from deportation.
The attorney general, who earlier this year successfully sued the Trump Administration over a travel ban affecting mostly Muslim nations, said the newest lawsuit cites the Presidents order to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA as “arbitrary and capricious”.
Ferguson says, “The stated premise for the president’s action is that DACA is illegal, that’s what you heard yesterday is that it is illegal. There’s just one problem with that. No court has ever held that. In fact up until yesterday, the Justice department has repeatedly argued that DACA is legal. Overnight there was a change, and that’s something you cannot do.”
Ferguson states he believes the Trump administration’s move violates the equal protection clause of the constitution,
“The president has made numerous statements on the campaign trail and in office, disparaging Mexicans, calling them criminals, thugs, bad hombres, among other names. Nearly 80 percent of dreamers are of Mexican decent. In our lawsuit we allege the president’s own statements make clear that a majority of dreamers are being targeted on the basis of the national origin.”
Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have joined as parties in the suit.
