Washington, DC (March 7, 2023) – In response to a report from the New York Times on Monday, March 6 that the Biden Administration is considering a return to the cruel practice of family detention, Lawyers for Good Government Executive Director Traci Feit Love said:

“Having organized thousands of attorneys to fight Trump’s unconscionable family detention policy, Lawyers for Good Government calls upon the Biden administration to publicly renounce and refute reports that it is considering reviving the inhumane practice of detaining families. Family detention is unjust, detrimental to the health of children, and harmful to the growth and survival of families. It has been condemned by innumerable human rights experts, medical societies including the American Academy of Pediatrics, and President Joseph Biden himself. In our President’s words, ‘Children should be released from ICE detention with their parents, immediately.’ 

Further, this misguided approach will only worsen the pressure on the border. Caging families is an abusive response to people trying to seek safety, and just like the Biden Administration’s failed CBP One rollout and proposed asylum ban, will only create more chaos while traumatizing children and families. If the Biden Administration wants to take action on border and asylum policy, it must do so from a basic recognition of its responsibility to welcome families seeking refuge, rather than detaining them. 

L4GG urges the Biden administration to rejoin us on the right side of history, reject cruel policies such as family detention, and work with us to create a humane immigration system.”

To learn more about Lawyers for Good Government’s immigration initiative, Project Corazon, click here.