Complaint Challenges Child-Parent Separation Policy and Implementation

Professor Ruthann Robson, City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law

In the complaint in M.G.U. v. Kirstjen Nielsen, three adult plaintiffs challenge the parent-child separation policy implemented by Homeland Security for persons seeking asylum. Recall that in early June, a federal judge ruled in Li v. ICE that the constitutional claims in similar complaint survived a motion to dismiss. The complaint in M.G.U. comes after increased publicity and outcry regarding the practice, with President Trump issuing an Executive Order changing the policy. However, the EO does not mention family reuinification and it is as yet unclear whether that will occur for parents and children who have already been separated (or whether the children will now be treated as "unaccompanied minors.")

The complaint alleges that that the government actors have violated the plaintiffs Fifth Amendment Due Process rights in two ways. First, the complaint alleges that it is a violation of due process to inflict punishment on civil detainees. In this regard, the separation is alleged to be punishment and includes this allegation:

The employees and agents who Defendants deploy to interact with parents and children in immigration detention facilities sadistically tease and taunt parents and children with the prospect of separation, and do so using words and tones indicating that Defendants’ employees and agents enjoy the pain and suffering that the very idea of separation causes to parents and children.

Second, the complaint alleges that the separation violates the due process right of family integrity, similar to the judge's finding in Li v. ICE.

Most likely this is only the beginning of challenges to the parent-child separation practice.