CHICAGO – Illinois' Attorney General Lisa Madigan signed on along with 17 Democrat attorneys general that filed a multi-state lawsuit Tuesday challenging the federal administration’s policy of forced family separation on the U.S. southern border.
“The federal government’s separation of children from their parents at the southern border is an atrocity that has already had profound consequences for families in search of a better and safer life,” Madigan said. “The inhumane and illegal separation of families must end and all of the impacted children must be reunited with their parents.”
In response to the Democrats' lawsuit, federal Southern California Judge Dana Sabraw – appointed by George W. Bush – ruled for immediate changes in handling the minors entering the US with their parents through locations other than designated ports of entry.
"Plaintiffs have demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits, irreparable harm, and that the balance of equities and the public interest weigh in their favor, thus warranting issuance of a preliminary injunction," Judge Sabraw wrote Tuesday.
- reunify all parents with children under the age of 5 within 14 days
- reunify all parents with their minor children age 5 and older within 30 days
- allow parents to contact with their children by phone within 10 days
His order did not require those crossing the border illegally to be spared prosecution.
"This Order does not implicate the Government's discretionary authority to enforce immigration or other criminal laws, including its decisions to release or detain class members. Rather, the Order addresses only the circumstances under which the Government may separate class members from their children, as well as the reunification of class members who are returned to immigration custody upon completion of any criminal proceedings," Sabraw explained.
The lawsuit AG Madigan signed onto alleged the federal administration has violated the constitutional due process rights of parents and children attempting to enter the U.S. by separating them as a matter of course and without any finding that the parent poses a threat to the children.
The current policy, the Democrats said, is also irrationally discriminatory, in violation of the constitutional guarantee of equal protection, because it targets only people crossing our southern border, and not anyone crossing the northern border or entering the U.S. elsewhere.
Madigan and the other attorneys general also argued that the policy violates the Administrative Procedure Act, because it is arbitrary and capricious, and that the federal administration has been violating U.S. asylum laws by turning people away at ports of entry.
Judge Sabraw did not agree with that complaint.
Joining Madigan in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington – all Democrat attorneys general.
