José, a 5-year-old child separated from his father, clings to these stick figure drawings of his family. Image via NYTimes.
The numbers are alarming: 658 more children have been separated from their parents at the border in just the first two weeks under Trump’s new family separation policy, according to recent reports.
One foster mother taking care of a 5-year-old child named José, who was separated from his father, calls the policy “horrendous”: “‘He holds onto the two pictures [of his family] for dear life,’ Janice said, through tears. ‘It’s heart-wrenching.’”
But there is one piece of news that offers the possibility to challenge this policy through the legal system.
Yesterday, a federal judge in California ruled that family separation may violate the Constitution’s guarantees of due process, the New York Times reports. In this ruling, Judge Dana M. Sabraw refused to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the family separation policy:
“Such conduct, if true, as it is assumed to be on the present motion, is brutal, offensive, and fails to comport with traditional notions of fair play and decency,” the judge wrote in his 25-page opinion. “The government actors responsible for the ‘care and custody’ of migrant children have, in fact, become their persecutors.”
Children’s Rights is proud to stand with the ACLU as amicus in this fight to end family separation, and is grateful to everyone who has signed our petition to stop family separation.
“Wrenching separation” of families may violate the Constitution’s guarantees of due process, a federal judge rules. Children’s Rights is proud to stand with @ACLU as amicus in this fight to end #FamilySeparation. READ: https://t.co/Gpiq3Wm0ai via @nytimes
— Children’s Rights (@ChildrensRights) June 7, 2018