Judge Appears Willing To Consider Expanding Court Order For Government To Identify All Separated Immigrant Families
“When there’s an allegation of wrong on this scale, one of the most fundamental obligations of law is to determine the scope of the wrong,” U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw said. “It is important to recognize we are talking about human beings.” ACLU has asked Sabraw to expand the court order, citing an inspector general report that estimated the separations go far beyond the 2,700 already identified.
Reuters:
U.S. Judge Weighs Expanding Lawsuit Over Family Separations To Cover More Children
A U.S. judge on Thursday appeared open to ordering the government to find potentially thousands of additional children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border by the Trump administration, which could greatly expand the scope of a lawsuit challenging the separations. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego called a January report by an internal government watchdog that found the U.S. government had started implementing its policy of separating families months before it was announced "a very significant event." (Cooke, 2/21)
The Washington Post:
ACLU Asks Judge To Order Trump Administration To Determine How Many Children Were Separated From Their Parents At Border
The report, from the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services, estimated that the separations extended beyond the 2,700-plus children identified in a class-action lawsuit over President Trump’s border crackdown, which drew widespread condemnation, including from Republicans. “I was shocked to hear that there were thousands who were separated,” Lee Gelernt, an ACLU lawyer who represents the parents, told U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw during a hearing in San Diego, adding that they could be at risk of being “permanently orphaned.” (Sacchetti and Perry, 2/21)
