In addition to the 15 (and counting) states that have already sued the Trump administration over its decision to repeal DACA, the University of California has also announced that it filed a lawsuit against the White House on Friday.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the university is suing the Trump administration for unconstitutionally violating the rights of immigrant students on, “nothing more than unreasoned executive whim.” Among the 10 campuses in the UC system, there are an estimated 4,000 students who are in the country illegally and would be affected by the Trump administration’s decision.
Janet Napolitano, UC’s current president, served as U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security from 2009 to 2013, and was one of DACA’s creators. In a statement, Napolitano said the lawsuit was filed as a way to defend the University of California students that are among the 800,000 undocumented immigrants affected by DACA’s repeal.
“Neither I, nor the University of California, take the step of suing the federal government lightly, especially not the very agency that I led,” Napolitano said. “It is imperative, however, that we stand up for these vital members of the UC community. They represent the best of who we are — hard working, resilient and motivated high achievers. To arbitrarily and capriciously end the DACA program, which benefits our country as a whole, is not only unlawful, it is contrary to our national values and bad policy.”
Applicants for the Obama-era program are only approved if they have or plan to graduate high school or college, are in the military or were honorably discharged. They also cannot have been convicted of a felony or major misdemeanor. UC’s complaint against the White House says that the repeal of DACA violates due process guaranteed under the constitution, and that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions arbitrarily ended the program without a reasonable explanation.
While it’s unlikely that many of the lawsuits regarding DACA’s appeal will be successful, hopefully they will at least delay the process so that Congress has enough time to pass a replacement.