Washington State AG Seeking Immigration ‘Separation Policy’ Stories
Some say Attorney General Ferguson is seeking such data only because he's contemplating suing the Trump Administration.
Monday, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson issued a statement to the public. He is seeking information from persons or families who have been affected by (or could be affected by) the new zero tolerance border crossing policy in the Southwestern U.S.
Ferguson's office calls it the 'Family Separation' policy. According to several news outlets, sources at the AG's office in Olympia say Ferguson hopes to collect the information and see if it give him an opportunity to sue the Feds and Trump Administration. Here's what the release said (in part):
"As has been widely reported, the U.S. Department of Justice recently announced a zero-tolerance policy for crossings along the Southwest border. As part of this enforcement policy, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is detaining immigrants and asylum seekers, and separating parents from their children. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for the care and placement of those children, and historically has placed several hundred unaccompanied minors in Washington every year.
We are asking Washington residents to tell us if they or their family members have been affected by this policy or expect to be affected by it. For example, if a Washington resident is currently housing or will soon be housing a child who has been separated from his or her parents pursuant to this policy, we would like to know. Those with information about impacts like these that Washingtonians are experiencing as a result of this policy can call 1-844-323-3864 and let us know."
Ferguson has been noticeably proud sounding in a number of releases, where he touts the number of times he has sued the Trump Administration over what he believes are legal issues with policy, compared to virtually zero such action against Trump's predecessor.