Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced Thursday he will file a multi-state lawsuit against the Trump administration, challenging the policy that allows immigrant family separations at the border.
“This is a rogue, cruel, and unconstitutional policy,” Ferguson said in a statement. “We’re going to put a stop to it.”
The suit hasn’t been filed yet, because it is being amended based on President Donald Trump’s recent executive order that halted the separation of families at the border. However, the suit would be filed in the next few days, according to Ferguson.
Ferguson claimed the executive order that was signed Wednesday is flawed, because the policy doesn’t grandfather in children who have already been separated from their parents. It is unclear what will happen to those children.
The attorney general also said the executive order was “riddled with caveats” that made it meaningless. Those caveats include needing an unknown amount of funding and judicial approval to indefinitely detain children.
The lawsuit was sparked after Ferguson learned parents seeking asylum who were separated from their children were in Washington state.
There were 167 people – 142 women and 25 men – detained at a federal facility in SeaTac as of Wednesday, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project says it counted 206 asylum seekers at the same facility. Of those asylum seekers, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project says 45 are parents, both mothers and fathers. Northwest Immigrant Rights Project Executive Director Jorge Barón says most have been told where their children are located but don’t know when they’ll be reunited.
There are also nine children in Washington state who were separated from their parents at the border, according to Governor Jay Inslee. Those children are not in foster care, but in facilities or with individual families licensed by the Department of Social and Health Services.
Ten states have joined the lawsuit, and Ferguson hoped more will sign on. Those states are California, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.
When the suit is filed, it will be Ferguson’s 27th lawsuit against the Trump administration.
