Continued Update on Trump's Family Separations

Continued Update & Actions by Indivisible Chicago

Action 1: Family Separations Update

On June 20, Trump signed an Executive Order ostensibly ending his administration's policy of separating migrant children from their families at the U.S. border. A federal court decided in Flores v. Reno in 1997 that the government cannot detain an immigrant child beyond a reasonable amount of time, defined in 2014 as 20 days. The Zero Tolerance policy clashed headlong into Flores with disastrous results captured in news stories. The administration has said it will now abide by the 20 day limit on detention but it’s also pushing for Congress to pass legislation that allows families to be detained beyond the 20-day limit and is making plans for further separations. Without the limitations set by Flores, migrant children and their families can be detained together indefinitely.

As of last week, the Trump administration states that there are still 528 children in government custody without their family (down from 565 on August 16).  Of these, 139 have parents who allegedly indicated a desire against reunification, 343 have parents presently outside the U.S., 29 have parents who have been released to the interior, and 17 have parents who have been red flagged for case review. 

The administration has officially agreed to a Reunification Plan with five processes:

• Identify and Resolve Safety/Parentage Concerns
• Establish contact with parents who have been removed from the United States
• Determine parent’s intention for child
• Resolve immigration status of minors to allow reunification
• Transport minors to their respective countries of origin 

HOW YOU CAN HELP

The following organizations are working to care for the children, reunite them with their families, and push our government to improve its lackadaisical response to the crisis it created. Follow the links below for more information and ways to help. 

• ACLU ACLU.org/families-belong-together
• Immigrant Defenders immdef.org/donate
• Lupe lupenet.ourpowerbase.net/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=18
• Neta netargv.com/2018/06/06/take-action-help-asylum-seekers-at-the-us-port-of-entries-rio-grande-valley
• Texas Civil Rights Project TexasCivilRightsProject.org
• RAICES ActionNetwork.org/groups/raices-refugee-and-immigrant-center-for-education-and-legal-services