Government Releases Immigrant Children Held in Connecticut
On July 16, 2018, the government filed a notice in federal court promising to release 9-year-old JSR and 14-year-old VFB from custody, grant parole to their detained parents, and reunite the children and their parents on parole. The reunion occurred that afternoon.
The Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic (WIRAC) at Yale Law School and Connecticut Legal Services represent the children in their emergency lawsuits.
The children were forcibly separated from their parents, and detained in Connecticut, after they came to the United States seeking asylum. VFB was separated from her mother two months ago as part of the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance policy,” and JSR was separated from his father a month ago. Neither child had seen their parent since.
“Releasing these kids and their parents is the first step in addressing the trauma that the government’s cruel ‘zero tolerance policy’ has caused on J.S.R. and V.F.B.,” said Hannah Schoen ’19, a law student intern at the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School. “We are hopeful that these families will now begin to heal, even as we know it will take months or years for them to overcome the harm caused by the government.”
Massiel Zucco-Himmelstein, an immigration lawyer with Connecticut Legal Services, said: “JSR and VFB came to the United States looking for freedom from fear, violence, and persecution. The federal government responded by ripping them away from their loving parents. Their reunification and release is a victory for the rule of law and an expression of the compassion that this government should show to all immigrant families.”
More information about the cases can be found at http://ctlegal.org/freeourkids/.
Connecticut Legal Services is Connecticut’s largest nonprofit law firm, dedicated to improving the lives of low-income people by providing access to justice. CLS’ free legal assistance and advocacy help vulnerable people meet their basic needs and escape poverty. CLS is the lawyer for immigrant children who are detained without their parents at Connecticut’s federally-contracted children’s shelter.
The Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic, a part of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization at Yale School, represents immigrants, low-wage workers, and their organizations in labor, immigration, civil rights, and other matters.
