New challenges in aftermath of family separation

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Video summary

For students who want to read along, the transcript can be found here. Total video time: 5m:07s. For the sake of time, you may wish to stop the video at 2m:49s.

1. After much criticism, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar said on Thursday that his department is prepared to reunite migrant children under age 5 with their parents, beginning next Tuesday.
2. Last week, Democratic attorneys general in 17 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing that its family separation policy violated the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fifth Amendment.
   • In a new filing on Monday, the attorneys general asked the federal government to provide more immediate information and access to those detained under the policy on an “expedited schedule.
   • The motion included more than 900 pages of personal testimonies from parents, children and other family members who were directly impacted by the Trump policy.
3. President Donald Trump signed an executive order reversing his family separation policy at the border after public backlash. Two weeks later, HHS confirmed that the separations have stopped.
4. Trump remains dedicated to his zero-tolerance policy. He tweeted on Thursday, “Tell the people ‘OUT,’ and they must leave, just as they would if they were standing on your front lawn.”

Discussion questions

1. Essential question: Why did the decision to separate families cause such an emotional response?
2. Why did the Trump administration separate children from their parents at the border?
3. Why has there been a delay in reuniting children with their parents after Trump’s executive action from two weeks ago?
4. How does the lawsuit on behalf of the state attorney generals against the U.S. government demonstrate federalism in action?
5. Do you agree with the lawsuit’s two main arguments that separating families is unconstitutional and that asylum seekers should not be held in detention? Why or why not?
6. Media literacy question: Why do you think NewsHour’s Lisa Desjardins chose to include specific examples from the 1,000 page document stating migrant stories while in detention? How could you find out if other news outlets did similar reporting?

To learn more, read the following articles:

• ‘My son is not the same’: New testimony paints bleak picture of family separation

• Trump administration says it will start reuniting families separated at the border

• Government finally confirms that child separations due to ‘zero tolerance’ policy have ended

Visit PBS NewsHour Extra for more education resources designed to help teachers and students identify the who, what, where and why-it-matters of the major national and international news stories. @NewsHourExtra