Challenging Unlawful Re-Detention and Family Separation of Immigrant Children

This case challenges a new Trump-Vance administration policy that is separating immigrant children from their families by re-detaining them after they had already been released, and imposing burdensome re-application requirements for their sponsors.

Federal law requires that unaccompanied immigrant children be placed in the least restrictive setting and, whenever possible, released to vetted family members or sponsors. For years, the government has followed a process to review and approve sponsors before reunifying children with their families.

But under this new policy, children who were already released and living with their families are being taken back into custody after encounters with law enforcement or immigration officials. They are then returned to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).

ORR is then requiring previously approved sponsors to go through a new, confusing, and months-long reapplication process with stricter requirements that many families cannot meet, especially those without certain forms of U.S.-issued identification. As a result, children are being held in detention for extended periods with no meaningful opportunity to challenge their confinement.

The plaintiffs in this case are represented by Democracy Forward and the National Center for Youth Law, and include four children — Diego N., Renesme R., Mario C., and Benito S. — who were all living with family members before being re-detained and returned to ORR custody. Each child had already been vetted, released, and reunited with their family, but is now being kept in custody for months.

The lawsuit argues that this policy:

• Violates federal requirements that children be placed in the least restrictive setting;
• Deprives children of their right to family unity;
• Imposes unnecessary and arbitrary barriers to reunification; and
• Denies children due process by keeping them detained without a fair opportunity to challenge their continued custody.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to stop ORR from enforcing this policy requiring all previously approved sponsors to reapply and to ensure that any decisions about a child’s release are made fairly and individually.