The Trump administration is joining a lawsuit filed by Ocean County against New Jersey’s Attorney General Gurbir Grewal. The lawsuit is challenging the constitutionality of certain policies put into place by Grewal, with the blessing of Governor Phil Murphy, that essentially turns New Jersey into a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants.

The Department of Justice filed a “statement of interest” in support of the lawsuit, in which the Trump administration attacks AG Grewal’s directive that places limits on what information local law enforcement can share with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities. In 2018, Grewal introduced the “Immigrant Trust Directive” which prohibits state, county and local law enforcement from providing ICE with information about wanted illegal immigrants, places limits on how ICE agents can interview an illegal alien in their custody, and bars law enforcement from participating in ICE operations in the state.

The 30-page document filed by the DOJ says that by directing state and local officials not to share pertinent information with federal immigration authorities, Grewal’s directive “unlawfully impedes the federal government from exercising its statutorily granted powers.”

The statement of interest filed by the DOJ is one of a series of moves by the Trump administration to counter moves made by multiple states to protect illegal aliens from deportation. In December, The Department of Homeland Security opened a review of states that allow illegal immigrants to obtain drivers licenses and ICE has begun issuing subpoenas to cities that don’t turn over information requested by them about illegal aliens who committed crimes.