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95 Wash. L. Rev. 377 (2020)
The Trauma of Trump's Family Separation and Child Detention Actions: A Children's Rights Perspective

handle is hein.journals/washlr95 and id is 377 raw text is: THE TRAUMA OF TRUMP'S FAMILY SEPARATION AND CHILD DETENTION ACTIONS: A CHILDREN'S RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE Jonathan Todres* & Daniela Villamizar Fink** Abstract: In April 2018, the Trump Administration publicly announced a new zero- tolerance policy for illegal entries at the U.S. border. This action kicked off a wave of family separations that made headlines and drew criticism from around the globe. Despite resounding condemnation of these actions, the Trump Administration defended its family separation policy as a tough deterrent. At least 2,600 families were torn apart in the ensuing months. And subsequent reports-from both the government and others-have detailed widespread abuses of and substandard conditions for children held in detention centers. The consequences of these separations and the maltreatment of children in detention are pronounced. The trauma that children have endured potentially has lifelong ramifications. This Article provides an in- depth, children's rights-based analysis of the Trump Administration's family separation and child detention policies and actions. A children's rights perspective offers several critical insights. First, children's rights are rooted in a legal mandate. Second, examining the Trump Administration's actions from a children's rights perspective reveals the breadth of rights violations occurring. This more nuanced understanding of the events can help in devising appropriate strategies to respond to such violations. Third, a children's rights perspective helps place the Trump Administration's actions in their historical context to better understand the gravity of these actions. Children's rights law is as close to universally accepted as any human rights law, and thus any departures from such widely embraced standards are particularly revealing. Finally, the authors discuss the implications of this children's rights assessment, urging action on several fronts to address this harm and prevent violations of children's rights in the future. * Jonathan Todres is Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Law at Georgia State University College of Law. This Article benefited from feedback received at The Intersection of Immigration Law and Health Policy symposium at Indiana University McKinney School of Law and at the American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 2019 Health Law Professors Conference in Chicago, IL. Thank you to Seema Mohapatra and Nicolas Terry, whose invitation to present at the Indiana University symposium gave us the initial impetus for this Article. We are grateful to Warren Binford and Emily Torstveit Ngara for their helpful comments on earlier drafts, to Monica Laredo Ruiz (GSU College of Law, 2019) for her outstanding research assistance, and to Amanda Roy (GSU College of Law, 2020) for her editorial assistance. Finally, our thanks to the Washington Law Review editors and staff, and in particular to Jenny Aronson, Kylie Fisher, Kingsly McConnell, and Malori McGill. They improved our Article and made the production process a pleasure. The research in this Article covers events through October 2019. * Daniela Villamizar Fink is an attorney with Kuck Baxter Immigration, LLC, where she practices immigration law. 377

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