Trump Administration Being Sued for Detaining 10,000 Children Awaiting Sponsors

 

The following statement was submitted by Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center. 

We’ve just filed an incredibly important lawsuit.

Right now, we’re suing the Trump administration for detaining 10,000 children despite the fact that they have sponsors waiting for them in the U.S. We’re seeking their release, but the Trump administration is purposefully preventing that from happening. 

A whistleblower released internal documents last Thursday that prove the Office of Refugee Resettlement – the agency that’s supposed to help unaccompanied refugee minors seek safe haven in the United States – adopted a policy of sharing sponsors’ personal information with immigration enforcement officials. The intent is to force sponsors into the deportation system and deter future sponsors from coming to the U.S. at all.

The Trump administration is using these children as bait to get this information. It’s part of the same strategy as the administration’s infamous family separation policy. And they knew it would result in fewer sponsors coming forward and children remaining in custody for longer periods of time.

We cannot stand idle while this administration attacks civil rights and ignores basic human dignity.