Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Family Separations At Border Were Officially Ended, And Yet More Than 900 Children Have Been Taken From Parents
Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union told a federal judge Tuesday that the Trump administration has taken nearly 1,000 migrant children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border since the judge ordered the United States government to curtail the practice more than a year ago. In a lengthy court filing in U.S. District Court in San Diego, lawyers wrote that one migrant lost his daughter because a U.S. Border Patrol agent claimed that he had failed to change the girl’s diaper. (Sacchetti, 7/30)
Family breakups have been imposed with even greater frequency in recent months under the Trump administration’s most widely debated immigration policy, ostensibly to protect the welfare of the children, but in many cases because of relatively minor criminal offenses in a parent’s past, such as shoplifting or public intoxication, according to tallies the Justice Department provided to the American Civil Liberties Union, which is challenging the separations. Earlier this month, the acting Homeland Security secretary, Kevin McAleenan, said in testimony before the House Oversight and Reform Committee that separations were “rare” and made only “in the interest of the child.” (Jordan, 7/30)
"It is shocking that the Trump administration continues to take babies from their parents," said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project. "The administration must not be allowed to circumvent the court order over infractions like minor traffic violations." (Gonzales, 7/30)
Tuesday's filing marks yet another development in the family separation lawsuit that began in 2018. Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled that potentially thousands more parents and children the US government split up at the southern border would now be included in the lawsuit over family separations. (Alvarez, 7/30)
The ACLU has been receiving monthly updates from the government on new separations over the past year. Of the 911, 678 were based on criminal conduct, 71 on gang affiliation, 20 for allegations of unfitness or safety concerns, 46 for unverified familial relationship and 24 for parental illness.The government’s explanations don’t get more specific than that in many cases, although the ACLU has been rounding out the record with sworn declarations from the network of attorneys who have been representing separated families. One father was separated with his three young daughters because he has HIV, according to one attorney. Another mother who broke her leg at the border did not immediately have her 5-year-old child returned once she was released. (Davis, 7/30)
The policy created a massive outcry, and the backlash forced the administration to walk it back just three months later. In his executive order ending the policy, President Trump said it is the "policy of this Administration to maintain family unity" unless detaining a child with its parents "would pose a risk to the child’s welfare." (Weixel, 7/30)
The attorneys asked the court to provide additional guidance on the criteria for separating families and “to reaffirm the basic premise of this Court’s preliminary injunction: that children should not be taken from their parents absent a determination that the parent is genuinely unfit or presents a true danger based on objective facts.” (Silva, 7/30)
In other news on the crisis —
The Trump administration is scouting sites in central Florida, Virginia and Los Angeles for future facilities to hold unaccompanied minors who have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent letters to Florida lawmakers Monday saying it is looking for vacant properties in those locations to build permanent licensed facilities for children under age 18 who have entered the United State illegally without a parent or guardian. (Schneider, 7/30)
The federal government is considering Central Florida as a site for future permanent shelters to hold unaccompanied migrant children, according to a letter emailed late Monday to several Orlando-area state lawmakers. The content of the letter was confirmed by U.S. Health and Human Services to the Times/Herald. (Madan and Mahoney, 7/30)
