State Attorney Gurbir Grewal, right, with Gov. Phil Murphy. (File photo)

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By S.P. Sullivan | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Since Gov. Phil Murphy took office pledging to fight President Donald Trump's tough immigration policies, New Jersey has found itself on the front lines of a national battle.

In the last week alone, state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has entered the fray in a legal dispute over DACA and joined his counterparts in other states challenging federal family separation policies.

Grewal, the nation's first Sikh attorney general, said in an exclusive interview with NJ Advance Media that he doesn't relish disputes with the federal government, but doesn't plan on shying away.

Here's what he said about why New Jersey is spending taxpayer money to take on Trump.

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Fighting federal separation policy

NJAM: New Jersey is now one of 17 states suing the Trump administration over its border policies, including family separation. But Trump has already signed an executive order aimed at keeping families together. Why isn't that enough?

GREWAL: Well, I don't think the executive order does anything. It doesn't do anything as far as reunification is concerned with those families that have already been separated, and it doesn't really chart a path forward.

I think the bigger point is that everything that’s coming out of D.C. is troubling, period, on this issue.

It seems like every day, the administration is issuing new, different and contradictory guidance, and what’s getting lost in all that back and forth is these are real lives, these are families, these are children who are suffering as we speak.

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NJAM: So what's the remedy the lawsuit is seeking here? Is it a return to Obama-era policies, which have also received criticism? What is the ideal outcome?

GREWAL: The remedy we're seeking here is reunification of families. The notion that this policy was needed to address some influx of unprecedented levels of immigration is just wrong. We have to look at the motivations here. They are using children as pawns in a game to deter immigration.

My perspective as the chief law enforcement officer of New Jersey is that these policies are undermining my ability to go after real criminals and prosecute crimes because it’s driving immigrant communities further into the shadows.

People we want to come forward and report crimes and be witnesses in cases are now feeling intimidated from coming forward.

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Today, New Jersey is suing the federal government over its family separation policies. We should be protecting families, not traumatizing them. We should be safeguarding children, not using them as leverage. Proud to stand with @AGOWA and so many others. — AG Gurbir Grewal (@NewJerseyOAG) June 26, 2018

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Murphy's executive order

NJAM: Murphy last week issued an executive order prohibiting the state National Guard or other state resources from being used to enforce the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. But it's not clear that state resources were being used in the first place. Is that a symbolic move, or is the state actually preventing resources from being deployed in the federal government's immigration enforcement?

GREWAL: I think it was important for the governor to express what New Jersey's values are on this issue and how we view our immigrant communities, so from that point of view it was necessary.

I’m not aware of state resources at this point being used to enforce the president’s family separation policies, but the order speaks prospectively, so there could be situations where the National Guard might be called upon, and this ensures that state agencies are not brought into this situation inadvertently.

It also provides us direction as well with regards to our involvement with immigration authorities.

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New directive coming for NJ cops

NJAM: Your office has been reviewing a 2007 directive that details how police departments should cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. What does the governor's executive order change about your relationship with the federal Department of Homeland Security or Immigration and Customs Enforcement?

GREWAL: I have no problem working with DHS and ICE with respect to enforcing criminal laws. We work with them hand-in-hand on a lot of different cases when it comes to drugs, when it comes to cyber cases.

It’s just when it comes to their (enforcement and removal operations) side of the house, that’s where we don’t have a role.

That’s where we will comply with them if they have federal warrants, but we’re working on that directive to outline how we will deal with detainers and we will provide guidance to law enforcement agencies across the state on how and if we’re going to comply with detainers, and to what extent.

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The DACA suit

NJAM: Your office also has jumped into a federal suit over Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Right now, New Jersey is the only state-level defendant in this case. What role do you intend to play in that case?

GREWAL: We've seen not just when it comes to DACA, but other important issues, when it comes to DOJ being called on to defend existing laws and regulations and practices, they're just not stepping up.

In this case, we are in a unique position to make a forceful defense against repeal of DACA.

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NJAM: What do you say to a New Jersey taxpayer who might be wondering why the state is effectively volunteering to be a defendant in a federal lawsuit and thinks you should instead be directing public money to enforcing state laws here in New Jersey?

GREWAL: I spend the better part of my day focusing on New Jersey and enforcing state laws. I would saw 95 percent of what we do here is right here, whether it's prosecuting bad guys, whether it's consumer affairs, whether it's our work with the State Police.

There's a small part of our work that's roughly three or four dedicated attorneys out of the entire department that are focusing on these issues, which I think are important issues, not just nationally but to New Jersey.

I would much prefer that I could devote 100 percent of our resources here to focusing on the opioid epidemic, to focusing on violent crime, to focusing on police-community relations. I would just as soon prefer the federal government to uphold existing laws and regulations and abide by the processes in place.

But this administration is not appealing to those rules and norms, and I think if we don't stand up for those principles which affect all New Jerseyans, then we're not doing our duty.

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Today’s lesson: We may not always win, but we’ll always stand up for what’s right.



I’m proud of the lawyers who pushed back and fought on. No matter what folks in D.C. say, our country is a welcoming one, and we’ll keep fighting for the values we cherish. — AG Gurbir Grewal (@NewJerseyOAG) June 26, 2018

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NJAM: Should we expect more immigration challenges coming from your office?

GREWAL: I think what's coming out of the administration is a moving target at this point, so it's hard for me to predict the future. We're not reflexively anti-Washington, we're not reflexively anti-Trump. We're pro-constitution and if New Jerseyans are going to impacted by a decision, we'll step into the breach.

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This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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