By Dan Boyd and Angela Kocherga / Journal staff writers
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Monday that New Mexico has filed a lawsuit against top federal immigration officials in an attempt to halt President Donald Trump’s administration’s policy of releasing asylum-seeking migrants without assistance in border communities.
The lawsuit, filed in conjunction with the city of Albuquerque in U.S. District Court in New Mexico, is the latest salvo in a politically charged dispute over a surge of migrants arriving at the nation’s border with Mexico.
In recent months, the U.S. Border Patrol has been dropping off thousands of Central American families released from custody into Las Cruces and Deming. Both cities have declared a state of emergency to cope with the influx.
A record number of asylum seekers are crossing the border into the United States, and the U.S. Border Patrol does not have enough holding cell space for families. More than 104,000 migrant parents with children seeking asylum have crossed the border since October in the El Paso sector, which includes all of New Mexico.
