FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 23, 2018
Contact: David Carl (505) 288-2465
Albuquerque, NM – Today, Attorney General Hector Balderas joined a coalition of 20 Attorneys General in filing an amicus brief seeking to protect Deferred Action for Early Childhood Arrivals (DACA) grantees. The brief was filed in Texas v. 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.
“I will continue to fight President Trump’s attacks on our Dreamers – future military, law enforcement, doctors and first responders,” said Attorney General Hector Balderas. “Rescinding DACA wouldn’t just devastate the lives of the grantees who rely on the program; it would also harm public safety, national security, research institutions and our economy.”
The 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 preliminary injunction.
The loss of work authorization by DACA grantees would deprive New Mexico of highly qualified employees, including faculty at state universities, nurses, information technology
specialists, and public safety officers. State-run educational institutions would lose students and revenue, hindering their ability to promote critical programming. Additionally, state and local governments would lose out on the hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local taxes that DACA grantees pay each year.
Attorney General Balderas was joined in this brief by the Attorneys General of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota,
New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
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