Hispanic Caucus chair: Attorneys general should probe Trump immigration orders

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is urging state attorneys general to probe the potential effects of President Trump’s immigration executive orders.

In a letter to attorneys general across the country, CHC Chairwoman Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.) called on the top state law enforcement officials to scrutinize how the executive orders are carried out by immigration officials in their states, suggesting that they take seriously the consideration for legal action, if necessary.

“I urge you to scrutinize these new policies and tactics by immigration officials, particularly the impact on communities in your state, and if necessary, take legal action on behalf of your state,” Lujan Grisham wrote in the letter.

{mosads}Already, some state attorneys general have emerged as active opponents of the Trump administration. Days after the president signed his original executive order barring citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S., 16 attorneys general filed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit against the measure.

In a repeat of that move, several other attorneys general filed a friend of the court brief opposing a revised version of Trump’s travel ban, which was blocked by a U.S. district judge in Hawaii last week.

Lujan Grisham lauded the efforts to oppose the travel ban order, but her letter urged attorneys general to go even further, extending their scrutiny to Trump’s executive actions ramping up immigration enforcement and border security.

Trump’s actions, she argued, have led to a sweeping expansion of law enforcement officials’ immigration authority and have subjected undocumented immigrants, legal residents and U.S. citizens to “unfair and unnecessary consequences.”

“Unfortunately, this work is not over. Immigrant communities continue to suffer unfair and unnecessary consequences from all of the President’s immigration executive orders,” she wrote.

“Mothers with U.S. citizen children have been deported, DREAMers have been detained, and permanent legal residents and citizens alike have been profiled. These individuals deserve swift defense from the highest levels of law enforcement.”

As a presidential candidate, Trump vowed to crack down on illegal immigration, increase deportations of undocumented immigrants and build a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

Since taking office, the president has authorized construction of the wall and has made immigration enforcement a top priority of his young administration.