A Federal Judge Ruled that the Government Must Treat These (2) Separated Migrant Kids for PTSD

[deminks]

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/07/a-federal-judge-ruled-that-the-government-must-treat-these-separated-migrant-kids-for-ptsd/

Two immigrant children who were separated from their parents at the southern border have had their constitutional rights violated, a federal judge in Connecticut ruled late last week in yet another blow to the Trump administration’s draconian immigration agenda. Judge Victor Bolden also ordered on Friday that the federal government produce the children’s parents in court this week and present a plan for addressing how to treat the children’s post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by the separation.

Connecticut Legal Services, who represented the children alongside the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School, said it was the first case in the county brought on behalf of separated children, rather than parents, to challenge the Trump administration’s policy on forcible family separation. Judge Bolden’s ld be used as a template for other actions on behalf of separated children, or for judges facing similar legal challenges across the country.

Significantly, the ruling shows that “all parties” agreed that the children’s rights had been violated. The government conceded that the children’s “separation from their parents was, and remains, traumatic,” though it argued that they were receiving “excellent care” at a residential children’s home in Connecticut.

On Friday, Bolden said the court concurred that the children’s constitutional rights had been violated, ruling that “[t]he government failed to provide the children with notice or a hearing, instead taking their parents, while distracting the children.” Bolden also noted that “[e]ven now, the government has not established a compelling reason for depriving the children of their family integrity.”

Bolden’s decision follows a ruling by Judge Dana Sabraw in California on June 26, which found that parents’ constitutional rights were violated when they were separated from their children after crossing the US southern border. As a class-action lawsuit, that decision has affected thousands of children who must now be reunited with their parents by July 26, though it’s still unclear if the government will meet the deadline.

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[eppur_se_muova]

1. I hope someone -- or several someones -- are eventually convicted of human trafficking for this. nt