Last week, Democratic attorneys general in 17 states + D.C filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing that its practice of separating families violated the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fifth Amendment.
A new motion filed Monday came with more than 900 pages of declarations that included powerful personal testimonies from parents, children and other family members who were directly impacted by the Trump policy.
.@NewsHour read through all 99 declarations and pulled 12 that offer a window into the #familyseparations at the border. Here’s some of what we found--
Olivia Caceres was separated from her 1 yr old son in November at a legal point of entry. The boy’s father, who was seeking #asylum, remains detained. “[My son] is not the same since we were reunited...he does not separate from me…he cries for fear of being alone.”
“They told me to sign a consent form to take my daughter, but that it did not matter whether or not I signed, b/c they were going to take her either way,” said Angelica Rebeca Gonzalez-Garcia, who was apprehended + separated from her 7 yr old in May. She hasn’t seen her since.
Ludin Jimenez said she was separated from her children, age 9 +17, when she crossed the #border seeking asylum. “[The children] did not have shoes or blankets in the detention center + there were people...that had to sleep standing up. They did not have enough to eat....”
“I simply cannot believe that my govt could have done this to these people,” said Taylor Levy, the legal coordinator for the nonprofit Annunciation House. “I have never been as emotionally impacted by anything as intensely as I have been working with these mothers and fathers….”
You can read all 12 testimonies and more about the lawsuit here via @LisaDNews, @Josh_Barrage and @DanielBush: to.pbs.org/2lUUi3K
