Trump’s border policy tore apart many families. Nobody knows what happens to them now
Jan 17, 2025
Number of families that are still separated remains unclear, and a previous ruling offers separated families few protections from future deportationIn summer 2017, the Trump administration began quietly separating families at the US-Mexico border. Under the “zero-tolerance” policy formally announced months later, federal immigration authorities removed children as young as four months old from parents or adults who were seeking asylum. The administration didn’t announce any plans for reunification.As Trump 2.0 grows closer and closer, so does the unease of the lawyers and advocates who have spent years locating, representing and reuniting these families. Organizations Justice in Motion, Kids in Need of Defense and the Women’s Refugee Commission, along with the global private law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, formed a court-appointed steering committee after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the 2018 class action lawsuit Ms L v US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stop separations at the southern border. While a judge halted Trump’s policy, some families still remain separated. Continue reading...