Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Tuesday backed California Attorney General Xavier Becerra's lawsuit against President Donald Trump's decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
"I strongly support Attorney General Becerra's decision to take legal action to preserve the DACA program and protect more than 223 000 Californians from deportation," the five-term Golden State Democrat said in a statement via Twitter.
California and three other states sued the Trump administration Monday over the president's decision last week to rescind DACA, giving Congress six months to determine the fate of the nearly 800,000 "Dreamers" affected by the program.
The other states joining in the lawsuit are Minnesota, Maryland, and Maine. The action was filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.
DACA was created in 2012 by former President Barack Obama via executive order. The program allows illegals brought to the United States as children to remain the country and obtain work permits.
In announcing the administration's decision last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Obama overstepped his constitutional authority when he bypassed Congress and created the program unilaterally.
Last week, 16 other state attorneys general filed a separate lawsuit in federal court in Brooklyn challenging Trump's decision.
"While I'm confident that DACA would be upheld, this action by Attorney General Becerra is no substitute for congressional action," Feinstein said. "Dreamers need a permanent, legislative solution that provides a path to citizenship.
"We should pass the DREAM Act as soon as possible."
Reuters contributed to this report.