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Coalition of National Civil Rights Organizations Files Circuit Court Amicus Brief In Support Of Challenge to Trump Administration’s Move To Abruptly End DACA Program

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law leads national coalition in effort to defend recipients of DACA

WASHINGTON, DC  – A coalition of civil rights and social justice organizations led by the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed an amicus brief before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in support of plaintiffs in two related cases, State of New York et al. v. Donald Trump and Batalla Vidal, et al. v. Baran, et al, which challenge President Trump’s move to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

“DACA has allowed thousands of young people to pursue meaningful opportunities and obtain economic security.” said Dariely Rodriguez, Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law’s Economic Justice Project.  “The administration’s arbitrary decision to terminate DACA was unlawful and made without regard to impacted families, communities and our economy.  We will continue to stand up for Dreamers in the courts by challenging this Administration’s discriminatory policies.”

These cases are on appeal from the Eastern District of New York, where on February 13, 2018, Judge Nicholas Garaufis issued a nationwide injunction, ordering the Department of Homeland Security to continue processing renewal applications for current DACA recipients pending the case being heard on its merits. This decision followed the nationwide injunction issued by Judge William Alsup in the Northern District of California in a similar DACA action on January 9, 2018.

In filing an amicus brief in State of New York et al. v. Donald Trump and Batalla Vidal, et al. v. Baran, et alseven civil rights organizations led by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law are seeking to ensure that the court considers the administration’s failure to consider the detrimental effect that rescinding the DACA program would have on enrollees and their communities.

The brief focuses on the administration’s disregard for the Administrative Procedure Act’s limitation on arbitrarily and capriciously reversing programs that create reliance interests. The brief examines the administration’s failure to consider the ways that enrollees relied on the DACA program by highlighting the investments they have made in themselves and their communities, such as enrolling in colleges and job training programs, purchasing homes and joining the military.

In addition to the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the brief is joined by: Advocates for Youth, Anti-Defamation League, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice, Mississippi Center for Justice, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. The brief was filed with pro bono counsel Venable LLP.

A link to the brief can be found HERE.

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