Protesters to rally against Laxalt-backed immigration lawsuit

By Ana Ley

Monday, May 18, 2015 | 5:05 p.m.

Local immigration activists are staging a rally Tuesday to ask ​Attorney General Adam Laxalt to withdraw from a lawsuit challenging two deportation deferral programs that would have protected millions of people living in the U.S. illegally.

The protest outside Laxalt’s office was scheduled to coincide with the canceled rollout of a new program dubbed the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, which would have helped immigrant parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services staff were supposed to begin accepting applications for the program today through Obama’s directive, but the plan is in legal limbo because of the lawsuit.

Representatives from the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, joined by members of the Culinary Workers Union and Mi Familia Vota, plan to walk to Laxalt’s office at 11 a.m. at 555 E. Washington Avenue and deliver him a letter with their message.

“Millions of families are being torn apart” by immigration laws, Culinary Union spokeswoman Bethany Khan said.

This is the second time local activists are gathering outside Laxalt’s Las Vegas office to ask him to back down from the lawsuit. They traveled to Carson City in March and blocked roads in protest of the lawsuit.

In addition to creating DAPA, Obama’s executive actions would have expanded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which benefits people who came to the U.S. as youths.

The American Civil Liberties Union will also hold an information session in Northern Nevada on Tuesday to answer questions about Obama's plan and the lawsuit lodged against it. That event starts at 6 p.m. in the Little Flower Church on 875 East Plumb Lane in Reno.