Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is among a group of prosecutors who have formed a coalition to support Liberians fighting to stay in the U.S.
Healey, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and other attorneys general filed a brief Monday supporting Liberian immigrants in a lawsuit over President Donald Trump's decision to end a humanitarian program that allows them to live and work in the U.S.
"The president's cruel decision to end Deferred Enforcement Departure will tear apart thousands of Liberian families and force people into an unsafe country," Healey said in a tweet.
Ellison said added in a statement that Liberians in Minnesota are "our co-workers, our neighbors, and our friends." The state has one of the largest populations of Liberians in the U.S.
Trump decided last March to end the Deferred Enforced Departure program that dates to 2007. The program protects about 4,000 Liberian immigrants who came from the African nation to escape environmental disasters and war.
The coalition also includes attorneys general of Rhode Island, California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Virginia.
