- The immigrant parents who have been separated from their children are so traumatized by their experiences, they barely trust the lawyers trying to help them, the lawyers say.
- Attorneys submitted numerous declarations to federal court on Wednesday alleging that the parents have been lied to so often during their time in government custody, that they treat everyone with suspicion.
- One lawyer said he was trying to interview one man who refused to believe he was a lawyer, even after seeing his bar card, business card, and driver's license.
Lawyers working with immigrant families separated under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy say that the parents have been so traumatized by their experiences, they treat their own lawyers with suspicion.
In a raft of declarations filed in federal court, numerous lawyers who interviewed the immigrants said the separated parents were often deeply cynical and reluctant to believe the lawyers were there to help them — and often were too upset to provide useful information.
Manoj Govindaiah, a lawyer with the nonprofit group RAICES, said the family separations have "inculcated families with skepticism and distrust to a level that far exceeds any that I have previously experienced with our clients."
Govindaiah said he met one father who repeatedly demanded he prove that he was a lawyer from RAICES, but wasn't satisfied by Govindaiah's bar card, business card, and driver's license. It wasn't until Govindaiah listed other RAICES staff members and volunteers the man had met previously that the man finally believed him.
"When I asked him why he was distrustful of me at first, he said something along the lines of since he and his son entered this country, they have been lied to, that he doesn't know who is government and who isn't, and now that he has his son back, he will not let his son go anywhere without him," Govindaiah said.
"Many fathers needed extended coaxing in order to believe that I was not there to take their children away from them," he added.
The parents' suspicion may be warranted — lawyers also said in their declarations that many parents were tricked into signing documents waiving their reunification with their child, after being told the forms would reunite them.
One parent identified in the court filings only as H.G.A. said they suffer from vision problems so severe they cannot read, and refused to sign multiple documents read aloud by immigration officials because the parent did not trust that the officers were reading the forms truthfully.
"When I asked them to read the form to me, they did so," the parent said. "However, because I still did not trust these officials and could not confirm they were telling the truth, I did not sign this form either."
'Tears and paralysis'
The declarations from Govindaiah and others were filed Wednesday as part of the American Civil Liberties Union's ongoing lawsuit over the family separations.
US District Judge Dana Sabraw has been overseeing the case, and ordered the 2,551 children between the ages of five and 17 to be reunited by the end of the day on Thursday.
Government attorneys sharply criticized the ACLU for filing the allegations, and accused them in a recent court hearing of undermining the reunification negotiations.
"We're about to be hit, blindsided by a raft of affidavits," Justice Department attorney Scott Stewart said at a hearing on Tuesday. "I think that's quite problematic."
Another lawyer, Shalyn Fluharty of the Dilley Pro Bono Project, said the mothers she has worked with say they have been "lied to, coerced, and threatened while in government custody," creating trauma that slows down the lawyers from providing legal assistance.
"Conversations regarding separation have proven unbearable for many of our clients," Fluharty said. "Even benign questions — like the question asking mothers to list the names and locations of their children on our intake form — produce tears and paralysis. The trauma not only ends a meaningful conversation regarding the mother and child's decision-making in their case, but also impedes their ability to accurately recount basic events in their legal cases."
Fluharty said that even the mothers who have been reunited or in contact with their children have struggled as the children tell them about their experiences in government custody.
"Children have expressed being deprived food, experiencing physical violence, and suffering ongoing depression during their separation from their parents," Fluharty said. "Some parents state they did not recognize their child upon reunification, because their child lost so much weight."
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