Other LanguagesOLYMPIA — Attorneys with the Wing Luke Civil Rights Unit are in federal court in New York today for the first hearing on Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s case seeking to halt President Donald Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“Allowing nearly 18,000 Dreamers to live and work in Washington makes our communities stronger and better places to live,” Ferguson said. “I will do everything in my power to ensure that they can continue to feel secure in what is, for many of them, the only home they have ever known.”
Attorneys from Washington, New York and Massachusetts, the co-lead states, are in court to set a discovery schedule in the case. Discovery is a pre-trial procedure where parties can obtain evidence from the other side, and may include requests for documents or depositions.
The states will also ask the court to set a schedule for the case that provides for a court ruling before the six-month delay in ending the DACA program elapses in March.
On Sept. 6, Ferguson and 15 other attorneys general filed the case in the Eastern District of New York. The status conference is before Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Courtroom 4D at 1 p.m. Pacific/4 p.m. Eastern.
Wing Luke Civil Rights Unit Chief Colleen Melody is representing Washington before the court today. Assistant Attorney General Marsha Chien is also handling the case for Washington.
In 2017, the Attorney General’s Office has prevailed in four times against the Trump Administration. Every court to issue a decision has ruled in favor of the Washington Attorney General’s Office in cases it has brought against the Trump Administration.
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The Office of the Attorney General is the chief legal office for the state of Washington with attorneys and staff in 27 divisions across the state providing legal services to roughly 200 state agencies, boards and commissions. Visit www.atg.wa.gov to learn more.
Contacts:
Brionna Aho, Interim Communications Director, (360) 753-2727; brionna.aho@atg.wa.gov