September 18, 2017
The web of litigation surrounding President Donald Trump’s decision to end a program protecting certain children of undocumented immigrants from deportation is swelling rapidly, with two new lawsuits filed Monday.
Legal legends are behind the two latest suits. One, in a Washington, D.C., federal court, was brought by the NAACP with the help of plaintiffs’ giant Joseph Sellers of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll. Another, in the federal district court for northern California, was brought on behalf of immigrant children themselves. They are represented by Harvard professor Lawrence Tribe and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Ted Boutrous, as well as several other prominent scholars and lawyers.
In these and other lawsuits related to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which have been filed on a rolling basis since Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the rescission of the program Sept. 5, the legal theories are quite similar. Most feature a mix of constitutional claims and charges of violations of administrative law, though the plaintiffs and their standing claims may vary widely.
“The fact that there are similar claims in these cases … is a reflection perhaps that great minds think alike,” Sellers said. “[The DACA lawsuits] all seem to focus on the same conduct and I think reflect genuine and strong concern from different segments of our society.”
Read States, Schools and Dreamers: Courts Bombarded With DACA Suits.