Trump’s child separation documents whether to be disclosed? Biden administration to decide by Friday
The Biden administration must decide by Friday whether the disclosure of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy documents should be permitted. The zero-tolerance policy separated thousands of migrant children from their parents in 2018.
Lawyers representing separated families in a civil lawsuit are pursuing the documents in Arizona and are seeking damages for migrants affected by the policy. Similar lawsuits have been filed in California and Washington D.C.
According to court documents, the materials include emails between top Trump administration officials and minutes of high-level meetings during the planning of the policy. Lawyers for the families have complained that the materials could show that the officials intentionally attempted to cause emotional harm to the children and parents.
Executive privilege to keep the materials private was invoked by the Trump administration and denied the materials to lawyers as part of discovery in the lawsuit.
A U.S. official who worked in the Trump administration said, “The Trump administration had a pattern of withholding documents that were politically embarrassing for questionable reasons.”
President Joe Biden‘s Justice Department response to the requests is not yet clear. lawyers for the government will have to explain their reasoning in a public legal briefing by Friday if they choose to continue to protect the documents. However, the documents will be made available only to attorneys for the plaintiffs and not the public if they choose to turn them over.
The Justice Department declined to comment.
The separation policy was reversed by Trump in June 2018 after his administration said it was necessary to enforce immigration law equally among families and single adults.
