Federal Judge Pauses Deportation Of Parents Separated From Children
U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw ordered the U.S. government to temporarily pause the deportation of parents recently reunited with their children for at least one week. Judge Sabraw continues to chastise the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for being so slow in reuniting more than 2,600 children that have been separated from their parents under the now-defunct policy to do so in cases of illegal immigration. Over the course of that week, Sabraw will decide whether or not to extend that period of time more permanently.
The case at hand was brought forward by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), petitioning the court for the pause of one week after family reunification for deportation proceedings to be carried out. Their main concern was that they have not had the opportunity to meet with families that may be lodging asylum claims. If deportations were immediate, as some have been, then they claim those people have been denied their right to do so. The ACLU also cited that in light of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ asylum guidelines, reported at NBC, it has become harder to get before a judge to lodge a request for asylum.
BREAKING: A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from deporting parents and children that it forcibly separated until at least July 23. #FamiliesBelongTogether
— ACLU (@ACLU) July 16, 2018
During the proceedings it was disclosed that 71 children separated from their parents at the border still haven’t been located and identified, as reported by CNN. Of the children still in detention, 1,609 parents of those children are still in detention at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities according to testimony provided by HHS Commander Jonathan White.
The reunification process has been slow, and Judge Sabraw sternly reprimanded HHS official Chris Meekins for saying that Sabraw’s reunification timetable was leading to an “increased risks to child welfare” in his court filing according to a column by USA Today. The same column noted that Judge Sabraw characterized Meekins’ remarks as “deeply troubling” and “completely unhelpful”. Sabraw stated the Meekins’ filing appeared to be an attempt to deflect blame for the child separation policy.
The government claimed swift reunification with their parents endangers these children, but the judge once again made clear that the government unconstitutionally took these children away and now must do everything in its power to reunite them safely and by the deadline.
— ACLU (@ACLU) July 16, 2018
One reason that has been cited for the slow process was the many layers in the reunification process. There is the step to locate and identify who each child is, a task that has been problematic in a few dozen cases. Then HHS has to sign off each parent; at this point they have screened 1,609, and passed along 1,317 they deemed to have no red flags. Next, ICE screens the parents again, and they have currently approved 918 parents, red-flagged 51, and have 348 still awaiting a clearance. Then, in some cases, there is an asylum hearing, which could take an indeterminate amount of time from weeks to years.
In Judge Sabraw’s summary remarks, posted in part by CNN, he made it clear that he did not find the DOJ defense that a one-week stay would unhinge the reunification process, or overload facilities, to be a viable argument against the ACLU petition.
“The reunifications should continue in accordance with Commander White’s plan and the idea that it would slow down or stop for other logistical reason due to a stay of trying to deport families immediately upon reunification, that’s not an option. That just shouldn’t be happening. There’s no reason that I can think of where that can result in unhinging the reunifications underway…. If space is an issue, the government will have to make space.”
