Trump is sued by 17 Democratic states who demand IMMEDIATE action to reunite separated families of illegal border-jumpers
- Democratic attorneys general from states including Washington, New York and California launch joint lawsuit in federal court in Seattle, WA
- They demand immediate action to reunite families separated when parents were arrested under zero-tolerance rules and children held seperately
- Move came on day Trump won similar case brought against his travel ban by Hawaii and backed by other Democratic attorneys general
Seventeen states, including Washington, New York and California, sued President Donald Trump's administration Tuesday in an effort to force officials to reunite migrant families who have been separated at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The states, all of which are led by Democratic attorneys general, joined Washington, D.C., in filing the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
It's the first legal challenge by states over the practice.
'The administration's practice of separating families is cruel, plain and simple,' New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said in an emailed statement.
'Every day, it seems like the administration is issuing new, contradictory policies and relying on new, contradictory justifications. But we can't forget: the lives of real people hang in the balance.'
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Republican lawmakers in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Tuesday, June 26, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
In this June 21, 2018, photo, migrant children walk off a bus at the Catholic Charities' Msgr. Bryan Walsh Children's Village in Cutler Bay, Fla. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said Monday, June 25, that children who range in age from newborns to 5 years old are being sheltered at this facility and His House Children's Home in Miami Gardens. (Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Immigration authorities have separated about 2,300 children from their parents in recent weeks, sparking global outrage as images and recordings of weeping children emerged.
Many parents are in custody thousands of miles from their children, whom they have not been able to see and have rarely spoken to for a month or more.
After falsely blaming Democrats for the separations and insisting that only Congress could fix the issue, the president last week issued an executive order designed to end the practice under his 'zero tolerance' policy, which prosecutes adults who come to the U.S. illegally.
But the states say his order is riddled with caveats and fails to reunite parents and children who have already been torn apart.
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They accuse the administration of denying the parents and children due process; denying the immigrants, many of whom are fleeing gang violence in Central America, their right to seek asylum; and being arbitrary in applying the policy.
A U.S. judge in San Diego already is considering whether to issue a nationwide injunction sought by the American Civil Liberties Union that would order the administration to reunite the separated children with their parents.
A Seattle-based immigrant rights group sued Monday on behalf of detained asylum-seekers in Washington state who have been separated from their children.
The states that sued are Massachusetts, California, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
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