WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ten employees at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are suing the Obama administration to block a new program to let many young illegal immigrants avoid deportation and get a work permit.

Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state and an immigration adviser to presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, is representing the employees.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court in Dallas.

The 22-page filing, which names Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and ICE Director John Morton as defendants, contends that the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals plan violates federal law and forces ICE employees to break the law by not arresting certain illegal immigrants.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Napolitano has previously defended the plan.