Ms. L v. ICE

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit seeking to reunite an asylum-seeking mother and her 7-year-old daughter fleeing violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, only to be forcibly torn from each other in the U.S. and detained separately 2,000 miles apart.

The lawsuit cites violations of the Constitution’s due process clause, federal law protecting asylum seekers, and of the government’s own directive to keep families intact. "Ms. L" and her daughter were reunited in March, though the national class-action lawsuit in this case continues.

UP NEXT: The ACLU will be in federal court in San Diego on May 4 for a hearing in Ms. L v. ICE, challenging the Trump administration’s practice of forcibly separating asylum-seeking parents and young children. Hundreds of families have been ripped apart by this inhumane practice, which is designed to scare other families from seeking refuge in the United States. The ACLU is seeking a nationwide preliminary injunction to reunite all the separated families and end this practice going forward.