ACLU seeks millions in damages for separated families

The American Civil Liberties Union is seeking millions of dollars in damages on behalf of thousands of immigrant families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The ACLU and other attorneys filed a lawsuit in Phoenix Thursday against past and present members of the Trump administration. The suit accuses the government of violating immigrants’ rights. It also claims its practices traumatized young children by illegally separating them from their parents.

Most of the plaintiffs in the case are from Central America. Most are also asylum seekers.

A previous lawsuit successfully sought to end the practice of family separation at the border. The practice was a hallmark of the Trump administration’s early immigration policy. It aimed to deter migrant families from coming to the U.S.

The government still separates children from family members, but only if the accompanying relative is not a parent or legal guardian.