The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency defended itself against allegations it continues to separate children from parents at the border, saying the practice follows long-established rules designed to protect kids from criminal adults.
The American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday submitted a motion in a legal case about breaking up immigrant families, which stated that 911 children had been taken from a parent since the court issued its injunction a week after the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy was discontinued late last June.
“From June 28, 2018, through June 29, 2019, Defendants have now separated more than 900 children — including numerous babies and toddlers — based on criminal history, defendants’ unilateral, unsupported determination that the parent is unfit or a danger, or mistakes about the identity of the adult as the child’s parent,” the ACLU wrote in the motion, filed in the U.S. District Court in San Diego, California. “The administration must not be allowed to circumvent the court order over infractions like minor traffic violations.”
However, these separations were done at the order of the court, which on June 26, 2018 told the Trump administration to reunite families that were separated earlier in the year unless “the parent is unfit or presents a danger to the child.”
That court stated parents with a criminal history, “which the Court noted ‘comes in all gradations, from minor misdemeanors to violent felony offenses,’” not be reunited with separated children. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw of the Southern District of California’s decision followed suit with how CBP has, for years, determined if any child arriving with a parent should remain with him or her.
A CBP official told the Washington Examiner in an email Wednesday those criteria were first outlined in the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, or TVPRA. The law laid out instances where a child should be taken from his or her biological parent for the child’s welfare.
“Separation of adults and children may occur to ensure the safety of the child when the following factors are present, which is in accordance with TVPRA and the more recent Ms L case: Parent or guardian presents a danger to the child; Parent has a criminal history; Parent has an outstanding criminal warrant; Parent has a communicable disease; Fraudulent claim of guardianship; and Smuggling narcotics at the time of entry, or other criminal activity related to the entry resulting in the adult being criminally charged,” the CBP official wrote in an email, adding that the agency could not comment on the specific case due to the litigation.
The ACLU said in 678 cases of the 911 incidents, the parent had been previously charged of criminal misconduct. Seventy-one other separations were due to the parent’s “alleged gang affiliation,” 20 due to allegations of unfitness or child safety concerns, 46 due to “unverified familial relationships,” and 24 due to parent illness.
These types of separations, due to a criminal record of a parent or such reasons, have existed as the basis for separations since the TVPRA was approved in 2008.
