Nearly 800,000 DREAMers, who came to the United States when they were younger than 16 and have lived here for at least 10 years, have applied for permits to work or study in college under DACA. | AP Photo Cuomo, A.G. promise lawsuit if DACA ends

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman vowed Monday that they will sue the federal government if President Donald Trump repeals the DACA program, which provides deportation protections for undocumented immigrants.

The Democratic politicians issued a press release about their efforts after Cuomo, who is positioning himself for a possible presidential bid, discussed it before the annual West Indian Day parade in Brooklyn.


The Trump administration has decided to end DACA, or deferred action for childhood arrivals, with a six-month lead time. Nearly 800,000 “DREAMers” — who came to the United States when they were younger than 16 and have lived here for at least 10 years — have applied for permits to work or study in college under the program.

That includes 42,000 New Yorkers, according to Schneiderman and Cuomo.

“This is a celebration of diversity … we say diversity is a strength, that’s what makes New York New York … we’re all immigrants. I’m an immigrant,” Cuomo told reporters. “Rescinding the DACA order would deport them. I think it’s exactly the wrong message, it’s the wrong action.”

Schneiderman, in a statement, said ending DACA would be “cruel, gratuitous, and devastating to tens of thousands of New Yorkers.” He noted that they pay millions of dollars in taxes.

Details on the legal theory of the suit were not included in the press release, but are expected later this week after Trump takes formal action.

Also before the parade, Cuomo declined to endorse New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in an upcoming Democratic primary (de Blasio faces Sal Albanese, a former member of the City Council). Cuomo declared he was not a city resident, and therefore could not vote for or against de Blasio, a one-time colleague with whom he feuds openly.

And Cuomo joined other Italian-American officials in saying that a statue of Christopher Columbus — perched high atop a pillar in the middle of Columbus Circle — should stay put. De Blasio, who is half Italian and half German, has said the city will review the statue for historical and cultural context along with other monuments.

“I for one, for obvious reasons, happen to believe in the Italian-American heritage,” Cuomo said. “I understand the movement, but remember where this action started: celebrating Ku Klux Klan and Confederate flags that celebrate slavery is one thing. Carrying it to the point where you want to say we shouldn’t honor Italian-Americans the way we have the St. Patrick’s Day parade for Irish-Americans and the Caribbean Day parade for our brothers and sisters from the Caribbean — I think that goes too far.”

“Nobody is saying that Christopher Columbus did not do bad acts to indigenous people. And I believe the indigenous people should be celebrated. But, if you want to take that kind of retrospective lens, where do you stop?” Cuomo continued. “Who is without sin?”