Lawyers for eight immigrant families that were separated under the Trump administration’s policy have filed claims against the US government, demanding damages for what they describe as “inexplicable cruelty” and lasting trauma.
In claims filed with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security, the parents accuse immigration officers of removing their children without providing any information on where they would be detained or even allowing them to say goodbye.
The claimants described how officers removed children from their parents and detained them in unspecified locations for several months. The claims allege the actions have caused serious and ongoing trauma to the minors such as inability to sleep and nightmares, outbursts of inexplicable anger. They allege that the manner in which the government’s policy was carried out was done in such a way as to deliberately inflict emotional trauma on those involved, and as such monetary damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress was the only recompense.
The US government has admitted to separating 2,600 children from their families, though a recent review acknowledges that the Trump administration divided thousands of other families before the policy was made public.
