Seventeen states collectively filed a lawsuit against the United States government Tuesday over the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy, arguing that the initiative violates parents’ rights and is allegedly motivated by animosity against Latinos.
The group of attorneys general lambasted the immigration policy as “abhorrent and indefensible,” according to Politico, which reported that the lawsuit blames President Trump’s cabinet for the separation of more than 2,000 undocumented immigrant children from their parents or guardians and prevents them from protecting the children from abuse.
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson led the suit, depicting it as part of a larger goal to resist Trump administration policies.
“This case, like all our cases against this Administration, says something important about who we are as a people,” Ferguson said. “We will stand up for the Constitution, basic decency and fundamental American values. My office has not yet lost a lawsuit to the Trump administration, and we do not intend to lose this one.”
The American Civil Liberties Union also used a pre-existing lawsuit to push for an injunction to force the reunification of children who were separated from their families. A U.S. District Court judge in San Diego ruled in their favor Tuesday, ordering reunification within 30 days.
