On Friday, U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw strongly condemned the Trump administration’s attempt to shirk its own culpability and responsibility in the ongoing family separation scandal as well as its ludicrous attempt to make the ACLU responsible for the reunification of children with parents who have already been deported.
Judge Sabraw said, “The reality is there are still close to 500 parents that have not been located, many of these parents were removed from the country without their child, all of this is the result of the government’s separation and then inability and failure to track and reunite. And the reality is that for every parent who is not located, there will be a permanently orphaned child, and that is 100 percent the responsibility of the administration.” He added, “the government has the sole burden and responsibility and obligation to make (reunifications) happen.”
The following is a statement from Pili Tobar, Managing Director of America’s Voice, regarding Judge Sabraw’s decision in the ongoing family separation crisis:
The Trump administration willfully separated children from their parents, then they deported hundreds of parents without their kids. Reports indicate that parents were given forms they didn’t understand and signed in hopes it would lead to reunification. Instead it led to their deportation. Now the administration is trying to wash their hands of the problem they created. Judge Sabraw is right. This is 100% the administration’s responsibility and it is entirely unacceptable for the government to slow walk or try to shift the responsibility for reunification. Every day that goes by these kids suffer more long term damage. Just like the government had no problem with deploying all available resources to separate families, they now must deploy all available resources to bring these families together as quickly as possible.
