USA: Judge values case to limit border separations

border separations

A federal judge in the United States said Friday that he had problems with a petition to define exactly what justifies the separation of migrant children from their parents at the border, following allegations that the Trump administration abused his power to divide the families under specific circumstances such as criminal records or doubts about whether an adult was really the father of a minor.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) alleged that the government has been separating families for dubious accusations and misdemeanors as traffic violations. In a court document, he reported that a father was removed for property damage valued at $ 5, and a child under one year was separated after an official criticized his father for letting her sleep with a wet diaper. Scott Stewart, a Justice Department attorney, acknowledged some mistakes but added that the government has a good system.

District Judge Dana Sabraw said it is a "thorny matter" and did not issue an immediate verdict on the ACLU's request for intervention after a two-hour hearing, which is unusually long for him. According to the magistrate, a person convicted of assault with a lethal weapon could be the "most affectionate, protective father" and not pose any danger to the child, but is probably not fit to be in a detention center for migrant families.

"This is a unique context," he said.

The government separated 955 minors from their parents since June 26, 2018, when Sabraw suspended the practice except in specific exceptions, and on July 20, 2019. The executive stressed that this represents a small percentage among the more than 500,000 arrests. and arrests of people who crossed the Mexican border as a family and illegally during this period, suggesting containment.

A two-page memo issued one day after Sabraw's ruling in 2018 and ordered by Kevin McAleenan - who then served as commissioner for the Office of Customs and Border Protection and is now interim National Security Secretary - describes the criteria for family separations , including that one of the parents is convicted of a felony or "violent misdemeanors", has a contagious disease or poses "a danger to the child."

Border patrol personnel in the Bravo River Valley sector in Texas, the busiest illegal passage, separate families if one of the parents has a conviction for crimes such as assault, assault, robbery, resistance to authority, run over or disorderly conduct, Lloyd Easterling explained last week in a court document, who oversees prosecution and prosecutions in the region.

“Simple thefts”, fraud, minor traffic and drug trafficking crimes and drunk driving without aggravating factors do not usually result in divisions. Allegations of criminal records or gang affiliations in other countries are more difficult to prove, but biometric controls and photographic comparisons often provide answers, Easterling said. The parties discussed the generalization of the use of rapid DNA tests to adults suspected of lying about their relationship with a minor.

The government maintains that increasing the use of these tests, which show results in about 90 minutes and have been tested along the entire Mexican border, could pose financial and logistical obstacles.