A $6 million lawsuit was filed in New Jersey federal court Thursday over the prior Trump administration's 2018 Family Separation Policy that forcibly separated a 3-year-old boy from his parents while he underwent heart surgery.

Takeaway: Since President Donald Trump took office on Monday, his immigration policies have taken center stage. The present lawsuit stems from his first-term policy that separated families at the border, according to a lawsuit filed this week by attorneys with Gibbons, Kirkland & Ellis, and others. Lawsuits over this policy have been relatively rare.

Court: New Jersey, U.S. District Court

Case Type: Personal Injury

Industry: Government and immigration

Lawyers: The plaintiffs are represented by Anne M. Collart of Gibbons; Amanda Lamothe-Cadet and Maylynn Chen of Kirkland & Ellis; and Elizabeth Jois, Kate L. Fetrow and Genesis Miranda of the N.Y. Legal Assistance Group.

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Liability Arguments: The plaintiffs are a father and son, identified as D.R.M. and J.J.R.S. in the complaint, who arrived in the U.S. to seek medical treatment for the 3-year-old’s congenital heart defect in March 2018. They alleged that they were detained in inhumane conditions and that an immigration agent threw away the child’s heart medication. The toddler was then separated from his father, who was deported to Honduras. The child was sent to foster care in the Bronx and underwent heart surgery without his parents.

“The explicit purpose of the policy was to inflict trauma on families like D.R.M. and J.J.R.S. who enter the United States without documentation, in order to deter other families from coming,” the complaint said. "Accordingly, plaintiff's mental and emotional distress was a foreseeable and intended consequence of their separation.”

The complaint cited a June 2018 decision by U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw of the Southern District of California that held that the family separation policy likely violated the constitutional rights of families seeking asylum. Sabraw ultimately issued a decision in the case, Ms. L. v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including a classwide preliminary injunction prohibiting the Department of Homeland Security from separating families subject to certain exceptions, and ordering reunification to take place.

Damages Arguments: The complaint alleged that the government achieved its objective through its unconstitutional policy of inflicting emotional distress on families. The lawsuit included claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, loss of consortium, and tortious interference with familial relationships. The suit sought $3 million in compensatory damages both father and son.

What the lawyers are saying: The plaintiffs' counsel did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A request for comment sent to the U.S. Department of Justice was not immediately returned.

Radar scan: There's been no shortage of litigation over Trump's latest executive orders that denies birthright citizenship to children born in the U.S. On Thursday, a federal judge blocked the executive order, calling the directive "blatantly unconstitutional."

Caption: D.R.M. v. United States

Date filed: Jan. 23, 2025

Judge: Unassigned

Read the complaint here.

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