Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 27 June 2018

States sue to pressure Trump to reunite immigrant families

By MICHAEL BALSAMO, cess in place to speed the where their children were
WILL WEISSERT and GENE return of children to their being held, said Simon San-
JOHNSON parents. doval-Moshenberg of the
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sev- "It could take days," he said. Legal Aid Justice Center in
enteen states, including "Or it could take a month, Virginia.
New York and California, two months, six or even "The U.S. government never
sued the Trump adminis- nine. I just don't know." had any plan to reunite
tration Tuesday to force it Health and Human Ser- these families that were
to reunite the thousands vices Secretary Alex Azar separated," Sandoval-
of immigrant children and told Congress on Tuesday Moshenberg said, and now
parents it separated at the that his department still has it is "scrambling to undo
U.S.-Mexico border, as the custody of 2,047 immigrant this terrible thing that they
legal and political pres- children separated from have done."
sure on the White House to their parents at the bor- A message left for HHS,
reconnect families more der. That is only six fewer which runs the hotline, was
quickly escalated. children than the number not immediately returned.
The states, all led by Demo- in HHS custody as of last Many children in shelters
cratic attorneys general, Wednesday. in southern Texas have not
joined Washington, D.C., in Democratic senators said had contact with their par-
filing the lawsuit in federal that wasn't nearly enough ents, though some have
court in Seattle, arguing progress. reported being allowed to
that they are being forced "HHS, Homeland Security, speak with them in recent
to shoulder increased child and the Justice Depart- days, said Meghan John-
welfare, education and so- ment seem to be do- son Perez, director of the
cial services costs. ing a lot more to add to Children’s Project for the
"The administration's prac- the bedlam and deflect South Texas Pro Bono Asy-
tice of separating families blame than they're doing lum Representation Proj-
is cruel, plain and simple," to tell parents where their ect, which provides free
New Jersey Attorney Gen- kids are," Oregon Sen. Ron legal services to minors.
eral Gurbir Grewal said in Wyden said. “Things might be changing
a statement. "Every day, it Under questioning, Azar re- now. The agencies are try-
seems like the administra- fused to be pinned down ing to coordinate better,”
tion is issuing new, contra- Karen Mallam, dressed as Lady Liberty stands with activists on how long it will take to she said. “But the kids we
dictory policies and relying during a Tuesdays with Tillis rally outside U.S. Senator Tom Tillis' reunite families. He said his have been seeing have not
on new, contradictory justi- office at the Federal Building to demand the reunification of department does extensive been in contact with the
families torn apart by separating families at the border, Tuesday,
fications. But we can't for- June 26, 2018 in Raleigh, N.C. vetting of parents to make parents. They don’t know
get: The lives of real people Associated Press sure they are not traffickers where the parent is. They’re
hang in the balance." masquerading as parents. just distraught. Their urgent
Separately, immigration- lice, and we're on the side and said parents and chil- Tens of thousands of Cen- need is just trying to figure
rights activists asked a fed- of the public safety of the dren will instead be de- tral American migrants out, ‘Where is my parent?’”
eral judge in Los Angeles American people." tained together. traveling with children — as Since calling for an end to
to order that parents be The Justice Department did But precious few families well as children traveling the separations, adminis-
released and immediately not immediately respond have been reunited, and alone — are caught on the tration officials have been
reunited with their children. to a request for a comment the Trump administration Mexican border each year. casting about for detention
In a speech before the on the multistate lawsuit has disclosed next to noth- Many are fleeing gang vio- space for migrants, with
conservative Criminal Jus- and had no comment on ing on how the process will lence in their home coun- the Pentagon drawing up
tice Legal Foundation in the Los Angeles filing. be carried out or how long tries. plans to hold as many as
Los Angeles, U.S. Attorney More than 2,000 children it will take. At a Texas detention facil- 20,000 at U.S. military bases.
General Jeff Sessions de- have been separated Juan Sanchez, chief ex- ity, immigrant advocates At the same time, the ad-
fended the administration from their parents in recent ecutive of the nation's complained that parents ministration has asked
for taking a hardline stand weeks and placed in gov- largest shelters for migrant have gotten busy sig- the courts to let it detain
on illegal immigration and ernment-contracted shel- children, said he fears a nals or no answers from a families together for an ex-
said the voters elected ters — hundreds of miles lack of urgency by the U.S. 1-800 number provided by tended period while their
President Donald Trump to away, in some cases — un- government could mean it federal authorities to get immigration cases are re-
do just that. der a now-abandoned pol- will take months to reunite information about their solved. Under a 1997 court
"This is the Trump era," he icy toward families caught families. children. Attorneys have settlement, children must
said. "We are enforcing illegally entering the U.S. Sanchez with the nonprofit spoken to about 200 im- be released from deten-
our laws again. We know Amid an international out- Southwest Key Programs migrants at the Port Isabel tion as quickly as possible,
whose side we are on — cry, Trump last week issued said in an interview with The detention facility near Los which generally has been
so does this group — and an executive order to stop Associated Press that the Fresnos, Texas, since last construed to be within 20
we're on the side of po- the separation of families government has no pro- week, and only a few knew days.q