Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has at least 43 lawsuits against the Trump administration

June 06--The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office has taken part in at least 43 lawsuits against the federal government since President Donald Trump took office, including five in 2019.

Healey's office has challenged the Trump administration on multiple fronts, filing amicus brief supporting insurance coverage for contraception and filing her own legal challenges to the travel ban, rollbacks on environmental protections and other policy changes.

Some of the lawsuits that have garnered the most attention are those challenging the Trump administration's immigration policies. Healey sued the federal government over its plans to wind down Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obama-era program that offered protections to undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children.

She also challenged the national emergency declaration that would have enabled Trump to redirect federal dollars toward the Southwest border wall construction. A federal judge last week blocked Trump from using the funding to build key portions of the border wall.

"It's really been unfortunate the amount of work we and other state attorneys general have had to do in this space to hold the line, to stand up for the rule of law, to stand up for the Constitution," Healey told MassLive in a recent sit-down with reporters and editors in Worcester.

Why sue the federal government over a border wall more than 2,000 miles away? Healey said the impact of the president's policies are felt in Massachusetts, including the policy separating families illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

"We have families -- kids and parents -- who have come to Massachusetts, who've been sent by the federal government to Massachusetts apart from relatives," she said. "That falls on us then."

What federal policies has Healey challenged in court? Here's a look at the major lawsuits, amicus briefs and other motions filed by the state's attorney general.

Healey's office filed a lawsuit in March against U.S. Department of Health and Human Services challenging the agency's "gag rule" that withholds federal funding from Planned Parenthood and other providers that offer abortion referrals or perform the procedure. The rule prevents doctors from discussing abortion with pregnant patients who may seek a referral.

Healey was joined by a coalition of 21 attorneys general in filing the lawsuit, which argues that the federal government is interfering with the provider-patient relationship and the ethical obligations of providers, among other things. Healey's office said the rule dismantles a national family planning program that offers millions of dollars in health care services to low-income women in Massachusetts.

A federal judge in Oregon temporarily blocked the rule on April 29.

Massachusetts legislators passed a bill earlier this year that would cover family planning clinics if they lose federal funding due to Trump's Title X restrictions. Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican who supports abortion rights, signed the bill in late March, approving $8 million in state funds for the clinics through June 2020.

Gov. Charlie Baker approves $8 million to reimburse family planning clinics that lose federal Title X money under Trump policies

The bill is a reaction to President Donald Trump's proposed changes to a federal program that provides money to family planning clinics.

In May, Healey also joined a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services against a rule that allows health care providers to deny treatments, services and information that is considered medically necessary on the basis of religious or moral views.

Healey's office said the new rule expands the number of health care workers who could deny care, from ambulance drivers to doctors in the emergency room.

"Access to medically accurate and necessary health care is a basic civil right," Healey said at the time. "Providers should not be able to use their personal beliefs as an excuse to deny needed care. We are suing to protect the lives and health of our residents."

The contraception rule

In October 2017, the Trump administration announced a rule exempting any employer with a religious or moral objection from providing its employees with contraception coverage through their health insurance. The Affordable Care Act requires employers to provide health insurance that covers contraception for their employees on the plan.

Healey's office filed a lawsuit shortly after to stop the federal government's new rule. The lawsuit was first dismissed for lack of standing, but then overturned by the First Circuit court in May.

Healey's office also led amicus briefs in support of a lawsuit filed by attorneys general in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as another filed in California. Both of those cases are on appeal.

3D guns

The federal government's settlement of the Second Amendment Foundation's lawsuit over free speech issues surrounding 3D gun files sparked criticism from Massachusetts legislators and, at one point, even Trump. The settlement not allowed the plaintiffs to published the controversial files.

Healey joined a multi-state lawsuit in July 2018 seeking to block the settlement to prevent the 3D gun files from being published online. A federal judge in Washington granted a preliminary injunction in August, temporarily blocking the distribution of the plans.

Healy's office sued Trump administration officials in June 2018 over the policy separating immigrant families who were caught at the Southwest border.

Healey's office said it is waiting for the defendants to respond to the complaint, but the case has been referred to the federal district court in California.

The day Healy's office filed a lawsuit, a federal judge in California ordered that the government stop separating families and reunify those who had been separated. The attorney general's office pursued discovery to see that families in Massachusetts are being reunified.

The national emergency declaration

In February, Trump declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexican border, per the National Emergencies Act, to secure up to $3.6 billion in military construction funds for the wall. The decision was quickly challenged by multiple states, including Massachusetts.

Healey joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general in challenging the emergency declaration, asking the court to block the diversion of federal dollars for the border wall construction. That case is ongoing.

Local law enforcement and ICE

Healey's office sued the Department of Justice in July over efforts to withhold federal funding for local law enforcement unless immigration agents get access to state correctional facilities.

In 2017, the Trump administration started imposing three immigration-related conditions on those who receive the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant, which provides millions of dollars to state and local enforcement agencies.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled in November that the Trump administration cannot withhold public safety funds in exchange for making state and local governments participate in federal immigration enforcement.

Judge Shelley Joseph, officer Wesley MacGregor indictments revive fight over ICE cooperation

While all eyes are on the indictments, House Republicans have spent the last two years trying to pass legislation to increase cooperation between ICE and local law enforcement.

Workplace injury rules

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced earlier this year it was rolling back a rule implemented in 2016 requiring large employers to submit annual reports detailing injuries and illnesses at the workforce.

Massachusetts joined five states in a lawsuit in March against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Department of Labor for reversing course. The case is ongoing.

For-profit college regulation rollbacks

Healey intervened in a lawsuit on Jan. 24, 2017, to defend the Obama administration's decision to terminate the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools.

According to the lawsuit, ACICS allowed predatory schools like Corinthian Colleges and ITT Tech to defraud students, securing hundreds of millions of dollars from federal student loans while issuing certificates with little to no educational value.

ACICS sued the Department of Education in December 2016 to maintain its authority to accredit for-profit schools, according to the AG's office. That case is ongoing.

In June 2017, Healey led a multi-state coalition to file a motion to intervene in the lawsuit, California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools v. Betsy DeVos, challenging the borrowing defense rule. The rule allows students to cancel their student loans if they find their college misled them or violated the law. A federal judge rejected the California association's challenge in October, though the group continues to challenge portions of the rule.

In July 2017, Healey's office sued the Department of Education and Betsy DeVos after she rescinded the borrower defense rule. A federal judge ruled in favor of Healey's office and on Feb. 26 ordered the government to enforce the rule.

Around the same time, Corinthian Colleges students saw their wages garnished and tax refunds seized over loans for Corinthian Colleges even though the students submitted claims say had been defrauded by the for-profit programs.

Healey's office sued the Department of Education and DeVos alleging that 95,000 pending claims had not been processed since Trump took office, violating students' rights under federal law. At the time, at least 1,000 borrowers in Massachusetts had submitted individual defense to repayment claims and were waiting for a response from the department. That case is ongoing.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office has fought the Trump administration over regulations designed to measure the effectiveness of for-profit colleges.

The fight centered around the gainful employment rule, which was used to collect data about a program's average debt loan, graduation rate, employment rate and other details so the government could measure whether the for-profit college was meeting its obligation to "prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation" under the Higher Education Act.

In summer 2017, the Department of Education announced it had no plans to calculate the metrics to review which programs are meeting those standards. Healey sued the Department of Education and DeVos in October 2017 for refusing to enforce the rule. That case is ongoing.

The citizenship question

Healey's office filed a lawsuit in April with 17 other attorneys general challenging the Trump administration's decision to add a question about citizenship in the 2020 Census.

"Adding an untested citizenship question at this point would sabotage the accuracy of the 2020 Census and threaten federal funding for critical programs in Massachusetts," said AG Healey. "We are suing to ensure a fair and accurate Census that counts everyone," she said at the time.

In January, a federal judge from New York ruled in their favor and struck down the citizenship question. The Supreme took up the case and is expected to deliver a decision in June.

The travel ban

The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office filed a lawsuit over the first version of the travel ban almost immediately after President Donald Trump issued his executive action.

In March, Healey's office voluntarily dismissed its case and joined the lawsuit led by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

Massachusetts challenged all three versions of the travel ban, but lost the last fight. The Supreme Court upheld the third iteration of the ban.

"I've already heard reports of businesses looking to set up shop in Canada because our immigration policies and the disruption of the Trump administration here really gives them cause for concern and inability to plan what's going to happen with their businesses," Healey told MassLive in May.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program wind-down

On Sept. 5, 2017, Trump administration announced it would seek to end DACA by March 5, 2018. The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office filed a lawsuit the next day challenging the decision.

Federal district judges in California and New York ruled in early 2018 that DACA recipients would keep their protections while the lawsuits are reviewed by the courts. A federal district judge in Washington, D.C. ruled in April 2018 that the Trump administration had to accept new DACA applications from eligible Dreamers. The case has been brought before the Supreme Court, which has not responded to petitions filed by the Department of Justice.

Doris Landaverde, a TPS recipient from El Salvador, has worked as a custodian at Harvard University since 2006. On Tax Day, she joined activists and politicians calling for a path to citizenship.

Temporary Protected Status

Temporary Protected Status offers a work permit and protections from deportation for two years for people whose native countries are marred by natural disasters, civil wars and other crises. The program, first launched in 1990 as a temporary program, has come under scrutiny by immigration hardliners who say that these populations have renewed the temporary protections only to stay in the country well past its intended use.

The U.S. is home to more than 400,000 TPS recipients, including roughly 12,300 in Massachusetts, according to the most recent available government statistics. Immigration advocates argue that the countries' conditions have not improved, and that these immigrants have no direct path to citizenship.

Healey and several other attorneys general challenged the Trump administration's efforts to terminate Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and Sudan. A federal district judge in California blocked the deportation of these TPS recipients while the lawsuit is reviewed. The case is on appeal in the 9th circuit. Several other lawsuits challenging the end of TPS are still being heard.

Affordable Care Act lawsuits

Healey has been involved in at least four lawsuits related to the Affordable Care Act.

In October 2017, she sought an injunction to ensure payments of cost-sharing reduction subsidies under the law, though that case was dismissed without prejudice. Healey also filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit House Republicans filed challenging subsidies to reduce cost-sharing under of the Affordable Care Act. The case was settled in May 2018.

In July, Healey and New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood led a coalition of 12 states in challenging a U.S. Department of Labor plan to expand what qualifies as a group health plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. They argue that the change would bring fraud, mismanagement and deception to the health insurance market. That case is ongoing.

She was one of several attorneys general that filed a motion to intervene in the Affordable Care Act lawsuit, Texas v. U.S. A federal district court judge ruled in December that the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional. The attorneys general filed a notice of appeal in January.

Personal care attendants

In May, Massachusetts joined a lawsuit against HHS challenging a rule that would prevent personal care attendants from having employers deduct union dues from their paychecks. Healey's office argues the rule attempts to undermine the bargaining power of an estimated 48,000 personal care attendants in Massachusetts.

Net Neutrality

In January 2018, Healey's office sued the Federal Communications Commission to block its repeal of net neutrality protections, arguing the decision would have dire consequences for consumers in Massachusetts and nationwide who rely on a free and open internet.

The office and the federal government argued on Feb. 2 and are awaiting a decision.

Looser environmental protection regulations

Healey's office has participated in 19 environment-related lawsuits against the federal government over efforts to roll back environmental protections. That includes suing the Environmental Protection Agency for ignoring the agency's legal obligation to control methane emissions in the oil and natural gas sector and suing to challenge attempts to rollback emissions standards for trucks and cars.

Healey also intervened in a lawsuit challenging the EPA's decision to abandon a ban on using pesticides used on food. In August 2018, the Nine Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the EPA to ban the use of chlorpyrifos, a toxic chemical, on food.

She joined a multi-state lawsuit against the EPA in 2017 for delaying a rule that protects communities from chemical accidents. The D.C. Circuit Court of appeals ruled in 2018 that the delay was illegal.

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