DACA: Connecticut Joins Lawsuit Against Trump Move

Connecticut has joined a group of 14 other states suing President Donald Trump over his move to wind back the Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, according to a statement Wednesday. The program extends protections to undocumented immigrants brought the country as children and allows them to work legally.

The states argue Trump's move rescinding DACA "violates constitutional guarantees of due process and statutory administrative process mandates," and has an adverse effect on both DACA recipients and states. The states also argue DACA recipients are even more vulnerable, because they turned over personal information to the federal government. The states also argue there has been no guarantee such information would not be used by federal immigration authorities such as ICE.

The suit further argues the administration violated the federal Administrative Procedures Act, which requires notice and comment before protections under DACA are stripped.

Watch: 15 States Sue Trump On DACA Rollback

"Connecticut is steadfast in our commitment to protect the over 10,000 DACA eligible youth in our state against the President’s cruel and misguided decision to rescind the program," Governor Dannel Malloy said in a statement. "We have already invested so much in these Dreamers who have grown up in Connecticut. They been raised and educated in our school systems. They contribute to Connecticut’s economy. They pay taxes. They defend our nation. We have seen how much our state stands to benefit from welcoming Dreamers, and their talents, to our communities and our workplaces – we will not turn our backs on them."

The state's economy could face future instability after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that DACA would be rescinded. Connecticut has 4,929 DACA recipients and an estimated 4,288 DACA workers, according to The CAP. Its research estimates the removal of DACA workers would cause an annual loss of $315,289, 496 from Connecticut's GDP. The Bureau of Economic Analysis says that Connecticut's GDP in 2016 was $263.4 billion and ranked 23rd in the country. (To receive free news alerts from your hometown in Connecticut click here.)

"This cold hearted decision disrupts the lives of immigrant communities," said Camila Bortolleto in a statement, a DACA recipient and a campaign manager for CT Students For A Dream. "That’s why we demand that Republicans pass legislation to protect immigrant youth! Immigrant youth should face no gap in protection as Congress develops legislation. This means that Congress needs to act fast. They should protect immigrant youth and not put other immigrants in more danger."

Sen. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal came out in strong opposition of the move on Twitter, both pledging to fight against the decision.

Mark Ojakian, president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, issued a statement saying many of the DACA students in the university system excel with demanding course loads.

"We are extremely proud of our students — they are doing everything we expect them to do as engaged young people pursuing their dreams of higher education," said Ojakian in a statement. "Many have double majors, a 3.5 GPA or better and all are working hard despite the day-to-day fear of knowing their families may be deported at any moment."

Some estimates say that ending the program would result in a loss of more than $400 billion from the American GDP over the next decade. That estimate comes from the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning group that is pro-immigration. According to the latest data released by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, almost 790,000 people were DACA recipients through March 2017.

To calculate the GDP loss, CAP relies on a 2016 survey that found 87 percent of DACA recipients were employed nationally, however, since the survey did not include a state breakdown, CAP uses the 87 percent figure to calculate GDP loss on the state level. CAP uses information from one of its previous reports to identify the contributions of each unauthorized worker to the state GDP.

Starting Wednesday, the Trump administration will not accept any new applications, and anyone whose registration expires in the next six months will have until Oct. 5 to apply for a two-year extension.

After the announcement was made, President Trump issued a lengthy statement saying his administration will resolve the DACA issue "with heart and compassion." Trump urged Congress to act on immigration reform and said that the phasing out of DACA is a "gradual process." Existing work permits will be honored until their expiration date, and applications already in the pipeline and extensions for those nearing expiration will be processed.

Late Tuesday, Trump tweeted that Congress now has six months to legalize DACA, and if it can't, he will "revisit" the issue.

"This Congress will continue working on securing our border and ensuring a lawful system of immigration that works," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a statement supporting Trump's move.

California, the state with the largest number of DACA recipients, CAP estimates an $11.6 billion annual GDP loss. For Texas, CAP estimates that figure to be $6.2 billion.

Pew estimates that a total of about 1.1 million unauthorized immigrants are eligible for the benefits and about 78 percent of those potentially eligible have applied for the program.

“President Trump’s wrong-minded decision to turn back the clock on DACA is completely nonsensical,” Malloy said. “From elementary and secondary education, to post-secondary education, to supports for vibrant, safe communities – we have invested so much into undocumented children who have grown up in America."

Feroze Dhanoa, Patch Staff contributed to this report.

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