Thread by @ACLU

BREAKING: We just filed a federal lawsuit seeking damages on behalf of thousands of traumatized children and parents who were forcibly torn from each other under the Trump administration's illegal practice of separating families at the border.

Thousands of children, including babies and toddlers, were ripped from their parents' arms with little or no warning. No explanations were given as to why they were being separated.

No answers were provided as to where the children were taken. No information was given to either the children or parents about each other's whereabouts.

The Trump administration sent kids to facilities thousands of miles away from their parents. Separated families weren't told when, or even if, they'd ever see each other again.

Many didn't see each other again for a year or more.

Our government must pay for this.

Several parents attempted suicide.

Tragically, some occurred.

Traumatized children were not provided meaningful treatment to address the suffering they experienced or the lasting effects of separation and confinement.

The people impacted deserve restitution.

The Trump administration's care and tracking for the separated children was so deficient that when a federal court finally ordered it to reunify families, government officials couldn't identify which child belonged to which parent.

Experts are clear: Trauma is linked to severe anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. Family separation will have long-lasting, detrimental effects on children's emotional growth and cognitive development.

Our lawsuit seeks damages and the creation of a fund to pay for professional mental health services for affected families

The trauma of family separation will long outlast this administration, and so too will its stain among our nation's most shameful wrongdoings.