17 states sue administration over family separations

Seventeen states, including Washington, New York and California, sued President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday in an effort to force officials to reunite migrant families who have been separated at the US-Mexico border.

On Tuesday, a federal judge in California issued a ruling on a separate but similar lawsuit. US District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego ordered border authorities to reunite children with their families within 30 days of the ruling, or 14 days if the child is younger than 5. Sabraw also issued a nationwide injunction on future family separations.

It wasn’t immediately clear how the federal ruling would impact the states’ lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Seattle.

The states, all led by Democratic attorneys general, joined Washington, D.C. in the first legal challenge by states over the Trump administration’s recent policy of splitting children from migrant families who may have crossed the border illegally.

“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.”