Despite public outrage, years of lawsuits, and a recent high-profile ruling from a San Diego-based federal judge, border agents are still separating families at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Human rights and migrant advocacy groups say that more than a thousand families have been separated at the San Diego border since September 2023 alone.
A letter sent to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties by Al Otro Lado, the American Civil Liberties Union, UCLA’s Center for Immigration Law and Policy, and Jewish Family Service of San Diego details how individuals are frequently transferred to detention centers across the country without notifying their spouses or other family members.
“Every day we encounter guests who have relatives who remain in CBP custody, who have been released in other parts of the state,” said Kate Clark, senior director of immigration services for JFS. “They’re left wondering, they don’t know where their family member is, and seeing that horror again play out and the trauma that is associated with that is another reason we knew this complaint needed to be brought forward.”
The letter requests an immediate investigation into “systemic problems” in Customs and Border Protection’s approach.
“Preserving the sanctity of family unity in all forms should be a priority consideration whenever DHS processes people at the border,” noted the letter, which detailed several examples of families arriving at the southern U.S. border and being separated and transferred to facilities in other states without explanation or even notification.
The issue of family separation is now compounded and complicated by “street releases,” in which Customs and Border Protection releases people from immigration custody to transit centers, makeshift nonprofit organization installations, or simply on the street throughout San Diego County, all without a coordinated reception plan and often without food, water, or necessary medications.
“In the best-case scenarios, separations last hours or days where CBP street releases members of the same family group on different times or days and/or at different locations across San Diego County,” noted the letter, which added that sometimes those separations go on for weeks or months.
“Worst still, some separations are made permanent and marked by international borders where CBP deports some family group members.
The trauma families experience during the periods of separation is compounded by CBP’s lack of communication and the near-total opacity of their practices. “
The letter recommends that CBP adopts formal policies around families and family unity, increases transparency and communication to and about people who have been transferred to other parts of the country, and requests that DHS permanently provides funding for infrastructure to provide humanitarian assistance and legal aid, rather than relying on local governments and non-governmental organizations to do so without federal assistance.
The public can pressure elected officials and demand better treatment of migrants as well, said Kate Clark, adding that the public’s interest in the border has dwindled since the Trump administration ended.
“It seems that support has waned and policies where folks are being split continue,” she said.
“It’s definitely a call-your-Congressman moment.”
This story was updated on Dec. 18, 2023.
