Attorney General Tom Miller.
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has joined a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s move to end the Obama-era program that has shielded “hundreds of thousands” from being deported to the country where they were born.
“For us to seek to deport 800,000 Americans who came over as kids, got educated here, worked here, followed the law here, probably don’t even remember their foreign country where they did start from,” Miller said, “I just don’t think we should do that.”
Attorneys general from Iowa, 14 other states and the District of Columbia argue President Trump’s move causes “immediate harm” and does not provide due process rights to those who enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Miller indicated about 2,800 Iowans have been protected by “DACA.”
“They came to this country as infants or small children. They got educated here. They’re working here. They’re paying taxes and they’re following the law and we put them, if nothing is done, in jeopardy of being deported back to a country they probably don’t even remember,” Miller said.
If this group is deported, Miller said the financial loss to the state’s economy “would be subtantial.”
“Our best estimate is that over 10 years Iowa would lose $258 million in tax revenues as a result of the 2800 people being deported, if that happens,” Miller said. “…We estimate that that GNP would lose $924 million.”
Ten Republican attorneys general had threated to sue President Trump if he had failed to repeal DACA by September 5. Now that Trump has set an end-date for the program, Iowa’s Democratic attorney general has joined the coalition of 16 Democratic and non-partisan attorneys general who are suing to try to preserve it.