A dozen people in the migrant caravan making its way to the U.S. border have sued President Trump and others in his administration for threatening to stop them at the border and house them in tent cities.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claims that Trump’s position is “shockingly unconstitutional.”
“President Trump continues to abuse the law, including constitutional rights, to deter Central Americans from exercising their lawful right to seek asylum in the United States, and the fact that innocent children are involved matters none to President Trump,” it said.
It said Trump is violating the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which includes the due process clause that plaintiffs say applies to everyone in the U.S., including people seeking asylum once they arrive.
The lawsuit seeks immediate judgment for the plaintiffs and a declaration that Trump’s border plan is unconstitutional.
Litigants in the case are listed as Maria Doris Pineda, Jasmine Ortega Sanchez, Francisco Javier Castillos, Holivia Adeline Castillos, Dina Ruc and Marta Lopez. Each of them are also listed as people filing the suit on behalf of their minor children, who aren’t named.
The suit was filed on their behalf by the law firm McFadden & Shoreman in Washington, Nexus Derechos Humanos Attoreys in Atlanta, and Williams Oinonen LLC in Atlanta.
The suit targets Trump, the Department of Homeland Security, DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and other agencies and officials within DHS.
Trump this week insisted that that caravan of several thousand people would not be allowed to enter the U.S., and would instead be held in tent cities while their asylum applications are processed.
He also indicated he could sign an executive order as early as next week that prohibits asylum seekers from entering the U.S. outside a formal checkpoint. And, he has directed 5,200 members of the military to the border to back up efforts by border agents to protect the boundary.
