The ACLU of Southern California [advocacy website], on behalf of several people with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and citizens whose parents have Temporary Protected Status, filed [press release] a lawsuit [complaint, pdf] in federal court on Monday challenging the Trump Administration’s termination of protected status that could push over 200,000 people out of the country.

The Trump administration has terminated TPS for all people from El Salvador [JURIST Report], Haiti [JURIST Report], Nicaragua, and Sudan.

The suit contends that the Trump Administration’s interpretation of the TPS statute [8 U.S.C. § 1254a] is unconstitutional because it interferes with the right of school-aged citizen children of TPS beneficiaries to reside in the country. The young citizens would have to choose whether to leave the country or to remain without their parents.

The suit next alleges that the interpretation violates the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment [text] of the Constitution. The complaint asserts that suspension of the program violates the Equal Protection guarantee of the Due Process Clause because it is based on biases against certain races and national origins, particularly those of people from countries Trump has described in derogatory terms.

The plaintiffs also assert that the administration’s decision deviates from prior interpretations in a manner that violates the Administrative Procedure Act [text]. They claim that these actions disregarded the reliance interests of those who have been living in the country peacefully and are “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.”