Civil Rights Groups Sue To Block ‘Unconscionable’ Policy That Would Allow Sick Immigrant Children To Be Deported
The Trump administration policy sparked national outrage when stories emerged about how children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases would be impacted. Advocates say that for immigrants seeking medical deferments, deportation could very well equal a death sentence.
The Associated Press:
Lawsuit Challenges End Of Immigrant Medical Relief Program
Civil rights groups sued President Donald Trump's administration Thursday over its decision to stop considering requests from immigrants seeking to remain in the country for medical treatment and other hardships. The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and Lawyers for Civil Rights filed a lawsuit in Boston federal court challenging the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' decision to end its "deferred action" program as of Aug. 7. (9/5)
Boston Globe:
Mass. Groups Sue To Stop Policy Change That Would Deport Families Of Seriously Ill Children
The suit “challenges the Trump administration’s abrupt termination of a longstanding government program [known as deferred action] that protects seriously ill people from deportation and death,” the complaint said. “The administration’s action is unconscionable. It is also illegal.”The plaintiffs want a judge to “declare the termination of USCIS’s deferred-action program unlawful and enjoin its enforcement,” according to the complaint. The filing names President Trump; Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services; Kevin K. McAleenan, the acting Homeland Security secretary, and other officials as defendants. (Andersen, 9/5)
Masslive.Com:
Mass. Lawyers File Lawsuit Challenging End Of Medical Deferred Action For Foreign Patients Seeking Treatment At U.S. Hospitals
The Irish International Immigrant Center, which represents at least 19 cases that were denied in August without notice, is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of Homeland Security, arguing that the changes to medical deferred action were “motivated by animus based on race and national origin and disability." (Solis, 9/5)
The Hill:
Civil Rights Groups Sue Trump Administration Over Immigrant Medical Care Cases
“The Trump administration is hellbent on causing as much suffering as possible for immigrant families,” Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, argued in a statement. “This attack on children and their families is inhumane and unlawful. We will not stand for it: The ACLU and our partners are in this fight until all immigrants are treated with compassion, humanity, and justice.” (Klar, 9/5)
