ACLU Sues Trump Over ‘Inhumane’ Imprisoning of Immigrants
- Lawsuit accuses Trump administration of violating Constitution
- Migrants cite ‘dangerous,’ ‘chaotic’ conditions at one prison
Photographer: Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images
The mass warehousing of more than 1,000 immigrants apprehended crossing the U.S. border in prisons occupied by convicted criminals is “inhumane,” the American Civil Liberties Union alleged in a lawsuit against the Trump administration.
Many immigrants who arrived at the U.S. southern border seeking political asylum from life-threatening circumstances in their native countries are now locked up in federal prisons across at least five states, where they are suffering from inadequate food, lack of health care and restricted access to fresh air and sunlight, according to the complaint filed Wednesday by the civil rights group and prisoner advocacy organizations. Some of the detainees were separated at the border from their children months ago as part of President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” crackdown on border crossings.