FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 14, 2021
Contact
Spencer Tilger | spencer@justiceinmotion.org | (646) 893-0691
Justice in Motion Responds to Watchdog Report on Family Separation
BROOKLYN, NY – Today, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a new report confirming that key Justice Department officials knew the Zero Tolerance policy would result in family separations. For the last two years, Justice in Motion has been conducting in-person searches in Central America and Mexico for parents who were separated from their children and deported without them.
In response, Justice in Motion Founder and Executive Director Cathleen Caron said:
“The new OIG report confirms what advocates have long known: that the Trump administration intended to separate families and did so knowing full well the harm these separations would inflict on children and their families.
“These officials are responsible for cruelly and unnecessarily separating children from their parents, actions that medical experts have likened to torture. They are responsible for leaving thousands of children and their parents with deep psychological harm that will last lifetimes.
“Justice in Motion and our partners are committed to finding all the families who were subjected to this inhumane policy. However, finding them is not enough. The Biden administration must make good on its promise to help these families by bringing them back to the United States, granting them legal status, and providing for their mental health and other basic needs.”
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Justice in Motion protects migrant rights by ensuring justice across borders. Our unique network of on-the-ground human rights defenders in Mexico and Central America partner with U.S. advocates to make sure that wherever migrants go, their rights will follow.