{"id":602439,"date":"2018-07-12T11:53:47","date_gmt":"2018-07-12T17:53:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=602439"},"modified":"2018-07-12T11:53:47","modified_gmt":"2018-07-12T17:53:47","slug":"trump-officials-want-to-give-migrant-families-a-choice-stay-detained-together-or-agree-to-separation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/07\/trump-officials-want-to-give-migrant-families-a-choice-stay-detained-together-or-agree-to-separation\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump officials want to give migrant families a choice: Stay detained together or agree to separation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_602444\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-602444\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Bus_Station_McAllen_BD_TT-771x517.jpg\" alt=\"Immigrant mothers and children\" width=\"771\" height=\"517\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Bus_Station_McAllen_BD_TT-771x517.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Bus_Station_McAllen_BD_TT-336x225.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Bus_Station_McAllen_BD_TT-768x515.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Bus_Station_McAllen_BD_TT-1170x784.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Bus_Station_McAllen_BD_TT.jpg 1250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Bob Daemmrich \/ for The Texas Tribune<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">About 25 immigrant mothers and their children detained coming across the Texas-Mexico border are released at the McAllen bus station wearing ankle monitors on June 22.<\/p><\/div>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">This week, the Trump administration took the surprising step of releasing some immigrant parents from detention in order to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2018\/07\/10\/family-reunifications-deadline\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reunite them with their children<\/a> who had been separated from them at the U.S.-Mexico border. Those tearful, chaotic <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2018\/07\/10\/immigrant-fathers-are-reunited-their-young-children-el-paso\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reunions<\/a> were documented across the country, showing smiling parents bouncing babies on their laps.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">But if the words exchanged recently in federal Judge Dana M. Sabraw\u2019s San Diego courtroom are to be believed, the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of parents who are still waiting to get their kids back might not face that same fate anytime soon.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThe authority to detain and to parole are critical to the government,\u201d Scott Stewart, the head of the immigration litigation office at the U.S. Department of Justice, told Sabraw yesterday. He explained that as the government faces Sabraw\u2019s deadline of reuniting more than 2,000 children with their parents by July 26, officials may give remaining parents in immigration detention two choices: Agree to be detained with their children \u2014 and give up their children\u2019s rights under the 1997 Flores agreement to be released after 20 days \u2014 or release their child to the custody of the federal government.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This article originally appeared in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2018\/07\/11\/trump-border-separation-immigrant-families-choice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Texas Tribune<\/a>,\u00a0a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans and engages with them about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In other words: \u201cThe family could stay detained\u201d together for longer than 20 days, Stewart said, or \u201cthe family would be separated, but with the parent\u2019s consent.\u201d Just because immigrant families must be reunited doesn\u2019t mean that parents can \u201cbootstrap a right to release\u201d from immigration detention, he continued.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">A lawyer for American Civil Liberties Union, which brought a class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration over family separation earlier this year, said in court that he did not disagree with that interpretation \u2014 though he did say he thought parents in immigration detention centers might win the right to release if they brought a separate lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Sabraw didn\u2019t appear to disagree either.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThis might be the happy situation where &#8230; you are agreeing with what the government has outlined,\u201d Sabraw told the ACLU lawyer on Tuesday. He asked that the Trump administration and ACLU get together on some legal language he could approve; as of Wednesday evening, it had not yet been filed with the court.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Geoffrey Hoffman, director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Houston Law Center, was disturbed by the exchange after being told about it Wednesday: \u201cMy reading of this is, the government\u2019s position is that they do not have to release anybody\u201d from immigration detention.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Hoffman worried that by offering immigrant parents a difficult choice of either staying detained with their children or staying separated from them, the government was opening up the possibility for abuse of the system. \u201cThere\u2019s a concern that people will misunderstand whatever form they\u2019re being given, [or] not be given any legal representation\u201d while they sign it, Hoffman said. &#8220;That is very problematic with respect to people who don&#8217;t speak the language&#8221; and people who probably don&#8217;t have the education level of an attorney.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is responsible for the nation\u2019s immigration detention centers, redirected queries about Stewart\u2019s statements to the U.S. Department of Justice, which declined to comment. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which takes custody of immigration children after they\u2019ve been separated from their parents, did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday. ACLU lawyers also did not respond to requests for comment.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Tuesday marked a court-ordered deadline for the federal government to reunite dozens of immigrant children under the age of five from their parents. Most families had been divided as part of the Trump administration\u2019s now-reversed practice of separating them upon crossing the border illegally \u2014 though some had also been separated before the policy became official, and some had been separated after seeking asylum legally at official ports of entry into the United States.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Department of Justice lawyers told Sabraw on Tuesday that they would reunite at least 38 children with their parents by the deadline, and Sabraw asked them to reunite around 60. They announced Thursday that <a href=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/07\/trump-administration-reunites-57-immigrant-children-under-5-declares-eligible-reunifications-complete\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">they had reunited 57<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">U.S. Department of Homeland Security official Matthew Albence told reporters Tuesday that ICE officers were strapping families with ankle bracelets and releasing them as they wait to go through immigration proceedings. Only about an hour later did Stewart indicate that the government was exploring legal avenues to stop that practice \u2014 which President Donald Trump pejoratively calls \u201ccatch and release\u201d \u2014 and instead keep parents in detention, with or without their kids.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Stewart\u2019s statements came after the Trump administration was dealt a blow in its efforts to keep immigrant families in detention indefinitely. A different federal judge ruled against this effort, but left Trump a loophole: Children and their parents could stay in detention together past a court-ordered 20-day limit but only with the parents\u2019 consent. Trump officials are arguing that they can take advantage of that loophole.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Stewart also made clear that if Sabraw, the San Diego judge, disagreed with his interpretation \u2014 or takes steps to require the government to release detained parents \u2014 the government would appeal or seek a stay of Sabraw\u2019s reunification order. But that seemed unlikely based on the discussion in his courtroom on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">If Sabraw gives the green light, Stewart said &#8220;we will proceed on that sort of implementation&#8221; that he outlined. Officials could begin seeking to indefinitely detain families \u2014 or give parents the option of remaining separated from their children \u2014 within days. Since more than 2,000 children over the age of five must be reunited with their parents by July 26 under Sabraw\u2019s order, that means federal officials would either need to find space to house hundreds of families in ICE facilities or put kids back into the custody of the federal government.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">There are only three ICE family detention centers in the country \u2014 two in South Texas and one in Pennsylvania \u2014 and they were already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2018\/06\/21\/trump-says-hell-prosecute-parents-without-splitting-families-will-be-c\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">nearing capacity weeks ago<\/a>. But Trump\u2019s June 20 executive order that ended the family separation policy authorized U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis to \u201ctake all legally available measures to provide to the Secretary, upon request, any existing facilities available for the housing and care of alien families, and shall construct such facilities if necessary and consistent with law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The U.S. Department of Defense is currently assessing whether Fort Bliss in El Paso and Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo are viable sites to house thousands of immigrant families \u2014 though they won\u2019t break ground on the facilities until the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Health and Human Services sign off on the plan.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Meanwhile, in Congress Wednesday, Republican members of the House Appropriations Committee appeared to take steps toward the same goal. U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, introduced an amendment to a wide-ranging House appropriations bill that would codify the government\u2019s right to detain families together \u2014 and take that debate out of the courts. Republicans approved the amendment, though both chambers must pass the bill for it to become law.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Some parents who have been separated from their children could still get released from immigration if they can afford to pay bond. The bond amount is set by ICE (at a minimum of $1,500), and can be renegotiated in front of an immigration judge. But not all adults in immigration detention are eligible for bond.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">And those who managed to get out on bond wouldn\u2019t immediately get to see their children. The children would still be in foster care, with another guardian, or in a government-overseen shelter.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Jodi Goodwin, an immigration lawyer with about 15 clients who have been separated from their children, said two of them had bonded out of the Port Isabel Detention Center in South Texas as of Wednesday afternoon. Both have children over the age of five, so the deadline for reunification is two weeks away. But the government is asking for a lot of paperwork, and it\u2019s even asking to fingerprint the parents although Sabraw said that is not necessary, according to Goodwin.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI have absolutely zero confidence whatsoever that ICE will reunify any of my clients&#8217; children with them by the deadline,\u201d Goodwin said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Disclosure: The University of Houston has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune&#8217;s journalism. Find a complete list of them <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/support-us\/corporate-sponsors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/em><script src=\"https:\/\/cdn.texastribune.org\/pixel\/dot.min.29c708b3d0da5d17a725.js\" integrity=\"sha384-8Xwf\/TlQnmHiajg1t3dn8w4qlF1rmV33o5NAQVXYu0T2q3rHV5579zrSmRjh+XnM\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\" data-tt-canonical=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2018\/07\/11\/trump-border-separation-immigrant-families-choice\/\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Government lawyers are seeking permission from a judge to offer families two options: remain together in family detention centers or release kids while parents stay detained.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":602444,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[140,234],"class_list":["post-602439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-border-and-immigration","tag-children"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}