Gurbir S. Grewal, New Jersey attorney general, speaks at Seton Hall Law School. Photo by Carmen Natale.

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said Monday he has moved to intervene in a lawsuit filed in federal court by the state of Texas seeking an end to the “Dreamers” immigration program.

In most cases, Dreamers were brought to the United States illegally by their parents, but are allowed to remain based on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, more commonly referred to as DACA.

Grewal, in a court document filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, is asking for the state to be allowed to intervene as a defendant in the Texas action, which was joined by six other states. Texas has opposed New Jersey's effort to intervene, according to the document.

“Dreamers are as American as those of us who were born here, and we'll do everything we can to protect them,” Grewal said in a statement Monday.

“Unfortunately, the state of Texas has brought a lawsuit to force the federal government to end protections for Dreamers, an action that would put 17,000 New Jersey residents at risk of deportation,” Grewal said, citing what he called the need to “step up” to defend Dreamers if the U.S. Justice Department will not do so.

The Trump administration announced its intention to end DACA in 2017, but has been enjoined by several courts from doing so. Recently, Texas and six other states filed a lawsuit in federal court in the Southern District of Texas arguing that DACA is illegal, because it was formed without congressional action. The suit seeks an injunction halting the issuance or renewal of future DACA permits, and seeks an order directing the federal government to implement its plan to end DACA.

In Monday's filing, Grewal asserts that New Jersey should be granted intervenor status because a “termination of DACA will directly harm New Jersey and its residents, whose health and well-being the State has a duty to protect.”

Among those filing declarations with the court in support of New Jersey's motion were Rutgers University President Robert L. Barchi and several Dreamers who live and work in New Jersey.

New Jersey contends that it has an interest in the litigation because the state government employs DACA residents, and the state treasury derives tax revenue from those workers and residents.

According to Grewal, there are 53,000 New Jersey residents eligible for DACA, and 17,400 in the program already, Grewal said. Of those, 15,900 are employed, with upward of 900 owning businesses, and about 7,800 in some level of school. The brief claims New Jersey stands to lose $19 million in annual tax revenue if DACA ended.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, sitting in Brownsville.

Earlier this year, Gov. Phil Murphy announced that New Jersey would join as a plaintiff a lawsuit filed by New York State against the Trump administration over the move to discontinue DACA.