New York Among 17 States Suing Government Over Family Separations
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - Seventeen states, including New York, California and Washington, 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 have Democratic attorney generals, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Seattle. It's the first legal challenge by states over the practice.
"The federal government's horrendous treatment of immigrant families arriving at our border is unconstitutional and in direct opposition to everything this state and this nation stand for," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. "In New York, we will challenge this policy every step of the way. It's time for this country to look in the mirror and remember who we are and what we are about. We must protect immigrant children and defend our principles, our rights, and our basic humanity."
"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."
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.
Last week, President Trump issued an executive order designed to end the practice under his "zero tolerance" policy, which prosecutes adults who come to the U.S. illegally.
The 17 states and Washington, D.C. say his order is riddled with caveats and fails to reunite parents and children who have already been separated.
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.
Massachusetts, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia are also part of the lawsuit.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
