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CLOSING ARGUMENT DECEMBER 28, 2020 ¦ 41

EDITORIAL BOARD

lighting was kept on around the clock; and the chil- At a minimum, our government should first ac-
dren had only foil sheets to use as blankets. Lawyers knowledge the grievous wrong it has committed
serving as compliance monitors in the Flores liti- through this systematic policy of family separa-
gation reported seeing children without any adult tion, which qualifies as an “atrocity”—both in the
supervision, with older children caring for younger colloquial sense, but arguably also under interna-
ones, and even changing diapers. The Inspector tional law. (On the latter point, see Article 7(1) of
General reported that 300 children were given an- the Rome Statute of the International Criminal
tidepressants—in some cases, over concerns voiced Court.) Second, rather than putting up resistance,
by facility staff. as it has done so far, our govern-
For the parents who have been ment must embrace efforts to
identified—representing about a search for the missing parents of
third of the total 5,550 separated the 545 “lost” children and com-
children—the trauma inflicted mit its vast resources to doing
by our government continues so.
unabated. Our government has Third, we must offer a pathway
now presented these parents with Our government should to U.S. citizenship to every sepa-
an impossible choice—you will acknowledge the grievous rated child, and their immediate
be reunited with your child only family members. Rather than
if you agree to have the child re- wrong it has committed representing a novel or gener-
turned to your country of origin, through a systematic policy ous solution, such a move would
notwithstanding possible dan- merely borrow frameworks
of family separation

gers; or you can face permanent that already exist in humani-
separation, if you want your child tarian immigration law, which
to remain safe in the U.S. Many provides legal status to victims
parents have “chosen” to give up harmed by actors who commit
their children. serious crimes or other atroci-
According to the ACLU’s Lee ties. Examples in humanitarian
Gelernt, the lead attorney in the immigration law include: U and
separation litigation, only about 20 parents have T Visas, for victims of certain serious crimes com-
been allowed back into the U.S. Even for these mitted in the U.S.; the VAWA (or Violence Against
“lucky” few, their legal status here remains uncer- Women Act) Self-Petition, for women and men
tain, in large part because asylum cases—even for abused by their U.S. citizen or legal permanent
individuals facing grave physical danger or even spouses or other close family members; Tempo-
death in their countries of origin—are difficult to rary Protected Status (TPS), for those who cannot
win. “I think a lot of people don’t realize that the return to their countries due to natural or man-
Trump administration is still trying to deport these made disasters; and, of course, asylum, withhold-
families, either the child alone or once reunited,” ing of removal, and Convention Against Torture
says Gelernt. “So the trauma from the separations (CAT) relief, for those fleeing persecution or tor-
exists. But on top of that, there’s the trauma of fight- ture in other countries.
ing for your life not to be sent back to danger.” Many of these remedies provide a pathway to
So, how can we as a country begin to make citizenship, both for the victim and immediate
amends for the outrage of separating families?
¦ Continued on PAGE 42

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