New York, Aug 19 (EFE).- A federal judge in New Jersey has given the green light to three Latin American families, who entered the US under the presidency of Donald Trump, to sue the federal government for having separated them from their children their arrival at the border in 2018.
In a 39-page decision, Judge Michael Shipp denied the Joe Biden Administration’s request to dismiss the lawsuit, now allowing the families to pursue the case.
The lawsuit is the result of the implementation of the controversial “zero tolerance” initiative for undocumented families, which between July 2017 and January 2021 separated some 5,600 children from their families upon arrival at the border, according to legal documents, highlights the newspaper NJ.com.
“When the government took my son from me, I hugged him and told him to trust God and be strong. God is finally answering our prayers,” Rafael, a Guatemalan immigrant who was separated from the 12-year-old for 37 days, told the newspaper.
Rafael and his son, who now live in New Jersey, fled Guatemala in June 2018 after his father and uncle were beheaded in a land dispute. Rafael and his son also received death threats, court records show, NJ.com further notes.
This is the first lawsuit of its kind in this state and it was filed in federal court last November after the Biden Administration changed its mind, after beginning to negotiate with the families.
The Government was also sued by Beatriz, a Salvadoran mother who was separated for 42 days from her three-year-old son.
The woman fled her country and requested asylum for herself and her son because the boy’s father is a gang leader, who raped and physically assaulted him.
The boy “continues to show fear, worry and sadness when separated from his mother,” according to the lawsuit, the newspaper also noted.
Jacobo, a Honduran father who entered the US carrying his 4-year-old daughter on his shoulders, is the third plaintiff and does not forget that border control agents told him that he would never see his daughter again.
The immigrant was separated from the girl for 93 days, who was placed with a family in another state that does not speak Spanish.
“I am still haunted by memories of my little girl crying ‘Daddy! Daddy!’ while they tore her from her arms,” recalled the Honduran, who left his country after a gang killed several members of her family and threatened her life.
“We are pleased that the court has joined the many other courts across the country that have rejected the same arguments the government made in our cases,” said Catherine Weiss, president of the Lowenstein Center for the Public Interest, which represents plaintiffs.EFE
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