To Curb Illegal Immigration DHS Separating Families At The Border
John Burnett
We have some news now on how the Trump administration is pushing back against illegal immigration. The administration has for months talked about separating immigrant families at the border as a way of discouraging them from coming in the first place. A federal lawsuit filed on Monday says federal agents are increasingly doing that  and the idea has outraged activists. The plaintiff is an undocumented Congolese woman who's being detained in San Diego while her 7-year-old daughter is being held 2 000 miles away at a shelter in Chicago.  NPR's John Burnett  has the story.
 JOHN BURNETT   BYLINE: In recent years  the Department of Homeland Security has attempted to discourage asylum-seekers from coming to the U.S. Under Obama  they detained some unauthorized families in camps in South Texas rather than release them in the U.S. while their cases are heard. The Trump administration has gone even further. It has arrested immigrant parents in the U.S. who paid smugglers to bring their children across the border  and it wants to expand detention space. Now comes the most extreme measure yet  family separation.
 BURNETT : That's Lee Gelernt  deputy director of the ACLU's National Immigrant Rights Project. He's representing a 39-year-old mother who traveled from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Mexico with her 7-year-old daughter. They surrendered to immigration agents near San Diego in December. They said they were fleeing violence in Congo and asked for asylum. She's being held apart from her daughter. They're only able to speak by phone.
 BURNETT : A spokeswoman for Homeland Security declined to give a reason why the child was taken from her mother  saying only the agency does not comment on cases under litigation. The practice of separating undocumented families to discourage them from coming is not a formal stated policy of the administration  but immigrant activists say it's been quietly growing in frequency along the Southern border. Katharina Obser is with the Women's Refugee Commission.
 BURNETT : Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services has documented 53 incidents of family separation in the last nine months  mostly Central Americans. They say they're fleeing rampant gang violence. But the administration believes most of them are gaming the system  and it wants to stop the flow  first  because the trek is dangerous for young children. And  second  Matt Al Bent's  an official with ICE removal operations  told NPR...
 BURNETT : Immigration lawyers say the strategy could work. Mothers may drop their cases and go home to be reunited with their children. But is that a reasonable way to curtail illegal immigration? Dr. Lisa Fortuna  director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Boston Medical Center  is an expert on the impact of trauma on immigrant families. She's submitting an amicus brief in the ACLU lawsuit.
 BURNETT : The lawsuit claims that immigration agents violated the Congolese woman's constitutional right to due process. It asks the government  if it's going to detain a mother and child during the asylum process  at least allow them to be together.  John Burnett   NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR  Copyright NPR.
We have some news now on how the Trump administration is pushing back against illegal immigration. The administration has for months talked about separating immigrant families at the border as a way of discouraging them from coming in the first place. A federal lawsuit filed on Monday says federal agents are increasingly doing that  and the idea has outraged activists. The plaintiff is an undocumented Congolese woman who's being detained in San Diego while her 7-year-old daughter is being held 2 000 miles away at a shelter in Chicago.   [TGT] has the story.
  [TGT] BYLINE: In recent years  the Department of Homeland Security has attempted to discourage asylum-seekers from coming to the U.S. Under Obama  they detained some unauthorized families in camps in South Texas rather than release them in the U.S. while their cases are heard. The Trump administration has gone even further. It has arrested immigrant parents in the U.S. who paid smugglers to bring their children across the border  and it wants to expand detention space. Now comes the most extreme measure yet  family separation.
  [TGT]  : That's Lee Gelernt  deputy director of the ACLU's National Immigrant Rights Project. He's representing a 39-year-old mother who traveled from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Mexico with her 7-year-old daughter. They surrendered to immigration agents near San Diego in December. They said they were fleeing violence in Congo and asked for asylum. She's being held apart from her daughter. They're only able to speak by phone.
  [TGT]  : A spokeswoman for Homeland Security declined to give a reason why the child was taken from her mother  saying only the agency does not comment on cases under litigation. The practice of separating undocumented families to discourage them from coming is not a formal stated policy of the administration  but immigrant activists say it's been quietly growing in frequency along the Southern border. Katharina Obser is with the Women's Refugee Commission.
  [TGT]  : Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services has documented 53 incidents of family separation in the last nine months  mostly Central Americans. They say they're fleeing rampant gang violence. But the administration believes most of them are gaming the system  and it wants to stop the flow  first  because the trek is dangerous for young children. And  second  Matt Al Bent's  an official with ICE removal operations  told NPR...
  [TGT]  : Immigration lawyers say the strategy could work. Mothers may drop their cases and go home to be reunited with their children. But is that a reasonable way to curtail illegal immigration? Dr. Lisa Fortuna  director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Boston Medical Center  is an expert on the impact of trauma on immigrant families. She's submitting an amicus brief in the ACLU lawsuit.
  [TGT]  : The lawsuit claims that immigration agents violated the Congolese woman's constitutional right to due process. It asks the government  if it's going to detain a mother and child during the asylum process  at least allow them to be together.   [TGT]    NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR  Copyright NPR.