KRMFL, along with co-counsel from Arnold & Porter, American Immigration Council, and National Immigrant Justice Center has filed a lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act on behalf of five asylum-seeking families. Under the FTCA, individuals may sue the United States for injuries resulting from unlawful conduct of federal officers. The five families who have brought the case are seeking monetary compensation for the extreme trauma they suffered due to the Trump Administration’s policy of separating families at the southern border.
At the time of their separation, the families were fleeing persecution from their countries of origin. In a cruel twist, the families were met with further violence as U.S. agents forcibly separated children from their mothers and actively prevented the families from knowing the whereabouts of their children. The government enhanced the trauma its policy caused by not informing these families when they would be reunited with their children if at all. For several families, this separation lasted for months.
The plaintiffs in this case claim that the U.S. government committed the torts of intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. Through this case, our clients intend to hold the government accountable for this cruel and inhumane policy.