At a news conference Wednesday that felt more like a political rally, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the state's promised federal lawsuit over President Donald Trump's decision to retreat from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive action initiated by his predecessor.

In the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, New York v. Trump, 17-cv-5228, Schneiderman and 15 other states and the District of Columbia argue that Trump's past rhetoric on immigration and Latinos represents an “animus-driven decision” to end DACA that violates the Constitution's Fifth Amendment equal protection and due process clause.

The 58-page complaint offers a litany of potential harms DACA beneficiaries will face should the phaseout, scheduled to begin in March 2018, be allowed to happen.