The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Tuesday said the federal government continues to "systematically" separate migrant children from their parents, accusing the Trump administration of violating a court order prohibiting officials from separating families unless in extraordinary circumstances where the children are in danger.
In a court filing in the U.S. District of Southern California, the ACLU said the administration has forcibly separated more than 900 migrant children in U.S. custody from their parents since one of the court's judges, Dana Sabraw, ordered the government to halt its controversial "zero tolerance" policy in June 2018.
Along with instructing the administration to reunite all separated families, Sabraw decreed that families should not be separated "absent a determination that the parent is unfit or presents a danger to the child."
The plaintiffs in the litigation, a group of migrant families represented by the ACLU, said the administration is violating Sabraw's ruling, and asked the court to hold an in-person hearing "as soon as possible" and to issue more detailed guidance about "permissible criteria" for the government to separate families.
"The government is systematically separating large numbers of families based on minor criminal history, highly dubious allegations of unfitness, and errors in identifying bona fide parent child relationships," the filing states.
The ACLU denounced a "concerning feature" about the recent and ongoing separations: About 20% of the cases involved children under the age of 5.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/family-sep ... aclu-says/