Judge Denies Trump Administration’s Request to Make ACLU Responsible for Reuniting Deported Parents With Separated Children

Judge Dana Sabraw strongly rejected the Trump Administration’s recent argument that the ACLU and other immigrants’ rights advocates should be responsible for locating the more than 450 immigrant parents the administration deported after separating them from their children earlier this year. The judge said it is “100%” the government’s responsibility to locate and reunite deported parents with their children, and stated that if it fails to do so, it will have “permanently orphaned” the children it separated from them.

In this class action case pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, the government has missed two deadlines to reunite separated families in cases where parents have been deported without their children. The judge ordered the government to appoint one or two officials to be responsible for reuniting deported parents with their children, and to submit a detailed plan for how it will accomplish the reunifications.

Additional Reading

Judge slams Trump admin for suggesting ACLU, others should find deported parents, CNN, August 3, 2018

Order Following Status Conference filed August 3, 2018 in Ms. L. v. Immigration and Customs Enforcement et al., via Justia Dockets

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