1、CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Family Separation at the Border and the Ms. L. Litigation July 31, 2018 The separation of families of non-U.S. nationals (aliens) apprehended by immigration authorities near the border has prompted contentious
2、debate among policymakers as well as legal challenge to immigration detention policies. Trump Administration officials have called for legislation addressing family separation, while some lawmakers have urged the executive branch to modify current separation policies to ensure that families detained
3、 by immigration authorities are held or released from custody together. On June 20, 2018, President Trump issued an executive order announcing that it is “the policy of this Administration to maintain family unity, including by detaining families together where appropriate and consistent with law an
4、d available resources.” At the time the executive order was issued, there was a pending lawsuit, Ms. L. v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, challenging on substantive due process grounds the practice of separating alien families at the border. And notwithstanding the June 20 executive order