Statement of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Regarding the Separation Policy at the U.S. Border | National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

20.6.18

Statement of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Regarding the Separation Policy at the U.S. Border | National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges:



The National Council of Juvenile and
Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) deplores the wholesale separation of
children from their parents at the U.S. border, without the due process
of law, as a devastating tragedy. The fact that these children and
families are detained in facilities without an opportunity to be heard
in court is contrary to our country’s established rule of law.


The NCJFCJ urges all to consider the
adverse effects on these children, placed in congregate care, a
placement strongly disfavored by federal law when they are removed from
their parents. Not only are these children immediately traumatized, but
also their chance for a productive and happy life is significantly
reduced by their experience. We see similarly situated children in our
juvenile and family courts daily and work with all parties involved to
give children an opportunity to see their parents regularly and to gain a
safe, permanent, and stable home. This is not the case with the
children being removed at the border.


In 2010, the NCJFCJ adopted a
resolution supporting a bipartisan amendment to the Humane Enforcement
and Legal Protections (HELP) for Separated Children Act, which supports
our nation’s immigration laws to be appropriately enforced, but must
also protect children from unnecessary harm in the process. 


To this day, the NCJFCJ, the oldest
judicial membership organization in the U.S., supports the access of
children to fair, equal, effective and timely justice by requiring
provisions in state plans for adoption and foster care, including
placement of children with a parent, legal guardian, or primary
caregiver relative who is in immigration detainment or has been removed
from the U.S.; mandates immigration enforcement personnel be better
equipped by receiving vulnerable population and child welfare training;
and implements measures for ensuring that immigration detention
facilities take steps to preserve family unity.


We ask our nation’s leaders to
reconsider the current separation policy so that these children are
reunited with their families and not subject to further trauma.


Hon. Anthony (Tony) Capizzi
President