President Donald Trump must defend a lawsuit targeting his plan to end a program offering protection from deportation for hundreds of thousands of children of undocumented immigrants after a federal judge said there was a “plausible inference” that it was illegally aimed at Mexicans.

U.S District Judge Nicholas Garaufis narrowed but didn’t dismiss the suit on Thursday. He previously blocked the U.S. government from moving to deport those covered under the program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, but hadn’t decided whether to allow the case to proceed.

On Thursday, Garaufis said those suing the U.S may proceed with a claim that Trump’s policy was driven by unlawful racial animus against Latinos, and in particular, Mexicans, who make up about 78 percent of the program.

While the Trump administration argued the claim should be dismissed because there wasn’t any evidence of any such motivation, the plaintiffs, including New York State and 15 state attorneys general as well as the District of Columbia, cited statements Trump has made describing Mexicans as "thugs," "animals" and "bad hombres."

"Although the use of racial slurs, epithets, or other racially charged language does not violate equal protection," Garaufis wrote, "it can be evidence that official action was motivated by unlawful discriminatory purposes."


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...cy-can-proceed