Attorney General Grewal Announces Plans to Challenge

Federal Family Separation Policy, Failure to Reunite Families

TRENTON – Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced today that the State of New Jersey will file a lawsuit in the coming days to challenge the federal government’s family separation policy.

Attorney General Grewal stated that New Jersey will join with Washington State and other states in challenging the policy, including the federal government’s failure to reunite more than 2,000 families that have been separated in recent weeks.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy welcomed the planned lawsuit.

“As a father, I find it incomprehensible and unconscionable that more than 2,000 children have yet to be reunited with their families, even after the President’s executive order,” said Governor Murphy. “New Jersey will continue to fight for these basic human rights, something our country is predicated upon.”

“More than 2,000 children remain separated from their parents, and there’s no apparent plan to reunite them,” said Attorney General Grewal.  “These separations are not just inhumane, they’re illegal.  As the State’s chief law enforcement officer, it is my responsibility to stand up for the rule of law and the principles of basic decency.  The President’s executive order falls far short of solving the problem that the President himself created, and in the coming days, we will be filing a lawsuit.  Our country deserves better.”