17 States Sue Trump Over Family Separations

'The administration's practice of separating families is cruel, plain and simple'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 27, 2018 12:28 AM CDT
17 States Sue Trump Over Family Separations
A mother migrating from Honduras holds her 1-year-old child as surrendering to US Border Patrol agents after illegally crossing the border Monday, June 25, 2018, near McAllen, Texas.   (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Seventeen states, including Washington, New York, and California, sued President Trump's administration Tuesday in an effort to force officials to reunite migrant families who have been separated at the US-Mexico border. The states, all of which are led by Democratic attorneys general, joined Washington, DC, in filing the lawsuit in US 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," says New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal. "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."

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. 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 US illegally. But the states say his order is riddled with caveats and fails to reunite parents and children who have already been torn apart, the AP reports. 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.

(More border separations stories.)

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