Families separated by Trump's 'zero-tolerance' policy at risk due to lapse in legal services, ACLU argues
Source: ABC News
May 16, 2025, 11:55 PM
Hundreds of parents and children separated under the "zero-tolerance" border policy during President Donald Trump's first term -- who were later reunited and protected by a 2023 settlement -- are at risk of being separated again due to a lapse in legal services, lawyers argue.
Under the 2023 court-approved settlement agreement, reached as a result of a class-action lawsuit filed in 2018, the federal government agreed to provide certain services to an estimated 5,000 people -- families and children separated under the 2017-2018 "zero tolerance" policy -- including behavioral health services and immigration legal services.
However, the ACLU says a recent decision made by the Trump administration to gut and then abruptly terminate a contract with the Acacia Center for Justice violates that agreement, leaving hundreds of migrants in legal limbo. The nonprofit organization is the main contractor that oversees services provided to separated families, such as helping them apply for parole and other benefits they're "mandated" to receive at the government's expense, the American Civil Liberties Union argues.
An estimated 414 migrants who are eligible for benefits are at risk of deportation because their legal status is set to expire by the end of the month if they don't receive the help Acacia was offering them, ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt argued during a federal court hearing Friday in the Southern District of California. "If they don't have parole, they're subject to arrest, deportation and re-separation," Gelernt said during the hearing.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/families-separated-trumps-zero-tolerance-policy-risk-due/story?id=121892150
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These families have already suffered enough!
