Please attribute the following statement on Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery's decision not to pursue a legal challenge of DACA to Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund).
“MALDEF thanks Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery for his letter today withdrawing from the Texas-led threat to sue to challenge the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. While we disagree with his assessment of the legality of DACA and believe it would be successfully defended in any suit challenging it, Slatery’s point that DACA should not be challenged regardless of one’s views on its legality is an important one. Legal challenges have consequences, and in this case, withdrawing DACA from young immigrants would have monstrous effects on our national economy, on communities nationwide, and on young immigrant students of all ages. Other states among the 26 that challenged Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) should show Slatery’s courage and publicly disavow any desire to try to invalidate DACA and any desire to convert the DAPA challenge into a suit against DACA.”