ImmigrationMore than 900 Children – 170 Under the Age of 5 -- Separated from Their Families at the Border
In June 2018, U.S. District Court Dana Sabraw issued a preliminary injunction which ordered the government to halt the practice of splitting families at the border except in limited circumstances — such as concerns about a child’s safety. Kevin McAleenan, the acting DHS secretary, told Congress that family separations are “extremely rare.” In papers filed in court Tuesday, the ACLU says that 911 children have been separated from their parents, and that one in every five children separated is under the age of 5.
Hundreds of children are still being separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a court filing. Last year, a U.S. judge ordered the practice to be drastically curtailed.
Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) told a federal judge on Tuesday that the Trump administration has taken hundreds of children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border since a judge ordered the practice be stopped last year,
Of the hundreds of thousands of children detained at the border since the court order last year, 911 had been separated from their families, the ACLU said in a 218-page court filing in San Diego, citing data from the Justice Department.
That number includes the 678 whose parents faced allegations of criminal conduct.
The ACLU says one in every five children separated is under the age of 5.
Fox News reports that in June 2018, U.S. District Court Dana Sabraw issued a preliminary injunction which ordered the government to halt the practice of splitting families at the border except in limited circumstances — such as concerns about a child’s safety. The judge also told the administration to reunite more than 2,700 children, who were in government custody at the time, with their families.
Kevin McAleenan, the acting DHS secretary, has said that family separations are “extremely rare,” and that they take place only when a parent poses a risk to a child due to his or her criminal record, a communicable disease, abuse or neglect.
The ACLU says, however, that federal immigration and border protection agents are separating families based on minor offenses.
One migrant, for example, lost his child because of a $5 theft which resulted in a 6-day jail sentence, the group said. Another migrant lost his daughter because a border patrol agent claimed he had failed to change the girl’s diaper.
The ACLU says that six others were separated from their children for convictions of marijuana possession, while eight more had their children taken away for fraud and forgery offenses.
The ACLU says that a government spreadsheet shows 44 separations based on assault allegations. In 11 of those cases, however, there is no indication that the parent was convicted and 34 do not indicate the severity of the offense.
The ACLU asked the judge to order the government to clarify when separations should be allowed to occur.
