Today, a panel of immigration lawyers joins Tom to discuss the Trump Administration’s "zero tolerance" immigration policies. Today is the court-ordered deadline for the government to re-unite migrant children under the age of five with their families, most of whom were detained for crossing the US border illegally. It’s a deadline that will not be met for at least 40 of the more than 100 infants and toddlers who have been separated from their parents.
A District Court Judge has also denied an Administration motion to extend the time the government is allowed to detain children past the current 20-day limit.
So, what’s next for the 3,000 minors who have been separated from their families?
Tom's guests are:
Anne Chandler, the executive director of the Houston office of the Tahirih Justice Center, a Washington, DC based group that provides legal and other services for women and girls seeking refuge from violence in their home countries. She joins us on the phone from Houston;
Ofelia Calderon joins us from the studios of NPR in Washington, DC. She is an immigration activist and a lawyer in private practice in Virginia;
And on the line from New Orleans, Professor Lindsay Harris, who teaches at the University of the District of Columbia's David A. Clarke School of Law, and co-directs UDC’s Immigration and Human Rights Clinic.
Our guests also address listeners' questions and comments.