Families separated at border push back on new evaluations
Parents suing after being separated from their children at the U.S.-Mexico border are pushing back against a Justice Department effort to require additional psychological evaluations to measure how much the Trump-era traumatized them
WASHINGTON (AP) — Parents suing after being separated from their children at the U.S-Mexico border are pushing back against a Justice Department effort to require additional psychological evaluations to measure how much the U.S. policy traumatized them, court documents show.
The effect of the Trump-era policy that was maligned as inhumane by political and religious leaders worldwide has been unusually well-documented, and it’s unfair to require parents to undergo another round of testing now, attorneys argue in court documents filed Thursday.
One woman testified about sobbing as her 7-year-old daughter was taken from her for what turned out to be more than two months, court documents show. Thousands of children were separated from their parents; some have still not been reunited.
The migrants seeking compensation have already undergone other evaluations, but the Justice Department said last month that testing from a government-chosen expert is necessary since the parents are alleging permanent mental and emotional injuries.
