DHS/IMMIGRATION/LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Trump administration over the government’s moves to separate some asylum-seeking immigrant parents from their children.
The organization filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Diego on Monday [2-26-18] on behalf of a woman from the Democratic Republic of Congo identified as ‘Ms. L.’ that seeks to reunite her with her daughter.
The ACLU alleged in the suit that Ms. L. and her 7-year-old daughter, identified in the court filing as ‘S.S.,’ applied for asylum at a border crossing near San Diego on Nov. 1. The woman, the suit said, was interviewed by an asylum officer and passed what is known as the ‘credible fear bar’ and was found to have a ‘significant possibility of ultimately receiving asylum.’
The two were separated after about four days, with the girl taken to a government child-care facility in Illinois and the mother jailed in the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, according to the suit.
Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including former Secretary John Kelly, have said the agency is considering splitting all immigrant parents and their children if they are caught crossing the border illegally, to deter migrant families from trying to sneak into the country.
Trump administration officials have said a final decision about whether to split illegal immigrants and their children at the border hasn’t been made, but some children are separated if a parent has a serious criminal history or there are concerns about the child’s safety or welfare.”
–Alicia A. Caldwell, “ACLU Sues Trump Administration After Immigrant Mother Separated From Child,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 26, 2018 11:00am