ACLU Comment on Raids of Central American Families in United States

WASHINGTON – House Representatives today passed H.R. 1689, a bill that would provide a three-year period of protection and work authorization for Haitians. The bill is the first pro-immigrant bill to pass Congress this legislative session and signals that elected officials across the aisle are rejecting the Trump administration’s extreme anti-immigrant policies, including the gutting of humanitarian protections for people fleeing political turmoil, violence, and humanitarian catastrophe. The vote also comes as Congress prepares to vote on a reconciliation bill in an attempt to strong-arm further funding for ICE and Border Patrol. Notably, H.R. 1689 would protect hundreds of thousands of Haitian nationals at risk of deportation after the Trump administration illegally terminated Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a statute enacted by Congress that has protected 350,000 Haitians who have lived in and contributed to communities nationwide, in some cases for decades. In response to this news, Naureen Shah, director of policy and government affairs at the American Civil Liberties Union, had the following reaction: “Today’s bipartisan passage is a major win for immigrants’ rights and is a clear signal that members of Congress are breaking from the status quo to reject the Trump administration’s unlawful and dangerous agenda to end humanitarian protections and deport our immigrant neighbors and loved ones. “While we thank the members of Congress who voted on this bill, we now need them to show the same courage to say no to any further funding for the Trump administration’s cruel and illegal mass deportation agenda. That means ensuring that no further funding is passed for ICE and Border Patrol until meaningful reforms are placed once and for all.”

NEW YORK — The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL), and the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit today to demand transparency from the Trump administration regarding its treatment of pregnant unaccompanied immigrant youth in federal immigration custody. The lawsuit seeks to enforce the ACLU and NCYL’s February 2025 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records and correspondence from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which oversees the care and custody of unaccompanied immigrant youth until they are placed with a sponsor, usually a family member, in the United States. The release of this information is important to monitor whether the Trump administration is ensuring that these marginalized young people have access to the full range of pregnancy-related care while in government custody, as is required by law. “When a pregnant young person needs abortion care, every moment counts,” said Chelsea Tejada, staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. “We demand transparency from the Trump administration about these marginalized young people’s access to reproductive health care. Unaccompanied immigrant youth must have access to the full range of pregnancy care, including abortion — and if the Trump administration is making it harder for young people to get that care, please report it by calling us at 212-549-2633, and we will hold them accountable.” “Cuando una joven embarazada necesita un aborto, cada momento cuenta,” dijo Chelsea Tejada, una abogada con el Proyecto de Libertad Reproductiva de la ACLU. “Exigimos transparencia de la administración Trump sobre su tratamiento de menores embarazadas no acompañadas en albergues federales de inmigración y su acceso al aborto. Bajo la ley, estas jóvenes deben tener acceso a todos los servicios de salud reproductiva, incluyendo el aborto. Si conoce a una menor de edad embarazada que necesita ayuda en acceder a estos servicios mientras está bajo custodia federal de inmigración, llámenos al 212-549-2633.” In 2017, the first Trump administration implemented a policy — which the ACLU successfully challenged — outright denying pregnant unaccompanied youth access to abortion care. Building off the settlement in the ACLU’s case, the Biden administration instituted policies and issued regulations requiring ORR to prioritize placing pregnant youth in states without abortion bans to ensure access to miscarriage treatment and abortion care. If a minor is placed in a state with an abortion ban, and she requests an abortion, she must be transported to a state where abortion is legal. But the current Trump administration has announced that it intends to change the current ORR regulations regarding abortion access for unaccompanied immigrant youth. Immigration and reproductive rights advocates are concerned that the Trump administration will either try to impose a de facto or outright ban on abortion. “Transparency regarding the treatment of unaccompanied youth in federal immigration custody is critical to ensuring these vulnerable young people’s rights are protected,” said Mishan Wroe, Directing Attorney at the National Center for Youth Law. “All youth deserve access to comprehensive medical care, including those who are detained by our government.” “The government must provide every young person in ORR custody access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare — but right now, the Trump administration is keeping us in the dark about whether or not they’re upholding that obligation,” said Anya Weinstock, Richard Feldman Legal Fellow at the NYCLU. “As the Trump administration continues to escalate its aggressive attacks on immigrant families and youth, we need transparency to ensure every young person’s rights are protected.” Unaccompanied immigrant youth come to the United States without their parents, often fleeing violence or abuse in their home country. They usually have family in the United States who they are seeking to be reunited with. But until then, they are placed in shelters overseen by ORR. Some young people first learn that they are pregnant when they receive an initial medical exam at the shelter. Given the high rates of sexual assault on the journey to the U.S., some of these young people are pregnant as a result of violence. The FOIA seeks all records from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its associated agencies, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and ORR, from January 2023 to the present regarding the federal government’s treatment of unaccompanied pregnant youth, including documentation of handling requests for and ensuring access to all manner of pregnancy-related care, such as abortion, pre-natal care, and childbirth. The FOIA request and complaint are just the latest in the ACLU’s long effort to ensure that unaccompanied immigrant youth have access to abortion and pregnancy care. In its 2017 class action lawsuit Garza v. Hargan, the ACLU successfully sued the first Trump administration on behalf of a then 17-year-old Central American immigrant, Jane Doe, who had been prevented from accessing abortion care. Jane bravely fought not only for her own reproductive freedom, but that of hundreds of other young people subjected to this dangerous policy. Today’s ORR regulations and policies regarding access to reproductive healthcare are built upon the ACLU’s 2020 settlement in the case. In the years since Garza was settled, the ACLU and NCYL have continued to seek transparency from federal officials, including since President Trump began his second term.

Families share how Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order upended their hopes, and forced them to consider early births or leaving the U.S.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL), and the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit to demand transparency from the Trump administration regarding its treatment of pregnant unaccompanied immigrant youth in federal immigration custody. The lawsuit seeks to enforce the ACLU and NCYL’s February 2025 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records and correspondence from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which oversees the care and custody of unaccompanied immigrant youth until they are placed with a sponsor, usually a family member in the United States. The release of this information is important to monitor whether the Trump administration is ensuring that these marginalized young people have access to the full range of pregnancy-related care while in government custody, as is required by law.