19 States and DC Sue Trump Over ‘Cruel, Immoral, and Illegal’ Plan to Detain Migrant Children Indefinitely

As Common Dreams reported last week, the rule was met with horror by rights groups, which described it as a “cruel attack on children.”

Massachusetts AG Maura Healey, who led the lawsuit alongside Becerra, echoed immigrant rights advocates’ alarm at the new rule, which must be approved by a federal court before it can take effect.

“With this rule, the Trump administration is paving the way for ICE to imprison innocent children for indefinite periods of time and is attempting to take away the ability of states to stop them,” Healey said in a statement. “This most recent attack on immigrant children is cruel, immoral, and illegal and we’re suing to stop it.”

Joining California and Massachusetts in the lawsuit are Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

The coalition of states warned the Trump administration’s rule would “result in the vast expansion of family detention centers and lead to children being held in prolonged detention with significant long-term consequences to their health and well-being.”

“Detention causes major trauma to children,” said the states, “and can lead to long-term psychological harm.”

Article Appeared @
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/27/19-states-and-dc-sue-trump-over-cruel-immoral-and-illegal-plan-detain-migrant


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