Trump's Plans To Repeal DACA Challenged In Brooklyn Court

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A legal challenge to the Trump administration’s plans to repeal DACA — the executive action that protects undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children from deportation — has been filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ announcement Tuesday that the Trump administration would pull Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — which protects about 800,000 immigrants — spurred outrage across the nation and in New York City, where 34 protesters were arrested outside Trump Tower and thousands rallied in Foley Square.

DREAMer Martin Batalla Vidal, 26, and the activist group Make the Road By Walking filed a letter in Brooklyn Federal Court claiming the DACA repeal would violate the Constitutional guarantee to equal protection under the law.

“This decision by Donald Trump is a direct attack on immigrant youth like me and on our families,” said Batall Vidal in a statement.

Also See: Obama Calls Trump's DACA Decision 'Cruel' And Contrary To Common Sense

“It’s based on one thing: the racist beliefs of a president who has been attacking Latinos and Mexicans since the first day of his campaign.”

The letter is attached to a lawsuit Batalla Vidal filed in 2016 lawsuit after the Supreme Court ruled against expanding DACA. As a result, Batalla Vidal, a Ridgewood resident who financially supports his mother by working in a nursing home, lost his three-year work permit.

Lawyers are now asking to amend the original complaint — filed on behalf of Batalla Vidal by Make the Road, the National Immigration Law Center, and Yale Law School's Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic — to include an argument against President Trump’s plans to repeal DACA.

Activists and officials who support DACA argue that the act has been a success, not just because it protects rights of undocumented immigrants, but because it also bolsters local economies.

DACA recipients and collectively pay $140 million in taxes, according to New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman, who threatened to sue on behalf of DACA recipients on Monday.

And New York DACA recipients contribute about $2.6 billion to the state's annual GDP, according to estimates uncovered by DNAinfo New York.

Sessions argued in his announcement Tuesday afternoon that DACA created a child migrant crisis on the Mexican border and allowed DACA recipients to steal American jobs.

"We cannot admit everyone who would like to come here," Sessions said in a press conference. "It's just that simple."

But hours later, and after a day of local and national protests, Trump backtracked from his administration's firm stance on the DACA repeal. In a tweet, the president told congress it had six months to legalize DACA.

Photo by Kathleen Culliton