Cruelty Compounded: New Ruling Will Bring More Suffering and Risk for Asylum-Seeking Families Detained by ICE
Lisa Lederer, 202/371-1996
“Yesterday’s federal court ruling is a miscarriage of justice that will cause real and immediate harm to asylum-seeking families already suffering trauma from being separated and detained. No mom or dad should ever be forced to choose between giving up a child or exposing her or him to COVID-19, which has already taken more than 140,000 lives in our country. But in declining to compel Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release adults held in family detention centers after another judge ordered the release of their children, that is exactly what yesterday’s ruling allows.
“Families belong together and must be freed together, now. With COVID-19 ravaging communities and taking an especially high toll at congregate living facilities like detention centers, that is more urgent than ever.
“America’s moms want our government to protect, not abuse, basic human rights and to treat every immigrant and asylum-seeking family with compassion, dignity and respect. ICE must release children with their families now.”