(Image source from: drugfreeva.org)
Attorney General of Virginia Mark R. Herring joined an alliance of 20 attorneys general to record an amicus brief seeking to protect Deferred Action for Early Childhood Arrivals (DACA) grantees.
"There are more than 12,000 DREAMers who call Virginia home," said Herring. "These young people are invaluable members of our communities, our institutions of higher education, and our economies here in the Commonwealth and across the country. Simply put, there is no upside to ending DACA. It will only hurt Virginia’s economy and make our communities less safe. I will continue to stand with my fellow state attorneys general and do everything I can to defend DACA and protect our DREAMers."
The brief was filed in Texas v. the United States, a case being heard in the District Court for the Southern District of Texas, in which certain states are challenging the lawfulness of the DACA program.
The multistate coalition that filed brief includes California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
More than 12,000 young people in Virginia have been approved for DACA according to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. These young people are now in school or working in Virginia and it is estimated that removing them from the workforce would cost Virginia more than $711 million in annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) losses, Herring said.
The amicus brief filed by the Attorneys General argues that the Texas plaintiffs cannot make the legal showing required to obtain a preliminary injunction, and that the requested preliminary injunction should not be granted because it would conflict with the two existing preliminary injunctions issued by courts in the Northern District of California and the Eastern District of New York.
Specifically, the brief argues that the Texas plaintiffs cannot show a likelihood of success on the merits or that they will be irreparably harmed if DACA is not enjoined and that the balance of the equities and the public interest weigh against granting the Texas plaintiffs requested a preliminary injunction.
By Sowmya Sangam
