New Jersey is one of 17 states backing a lawsuit that challenges the Trump administration’s decision to end temporary protected status for Haitians and immigrants from five other countries.
The state Attorney General‘s office filed an amicus brief Friday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York urging a federal judge to review a lawsuit filed by a group of Haitians with temporary protected status, or TPS. Attorneys representing the federal government have asked that the lawsuit be dismissed.
Attorney General Gurbir Grewal joined attorneys general from 16 states and Washington, D.C., in arguing that terminating TPS is unconstitutional and could have a major impact on hundreds of thousands of immigrant families.
“The result would be harm to the welfare of TPS holders and their families, shuttered businesses, labor shortages, empty church pews, and strain on public and private social services,” the brief states.
Haitians became eligible for protections because of an earthquake in 2010 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016. More than 60,000 Haitians learned in November that they would lose their temporary protections on July 22, 2019. Continue reading