Federal Court Finds Trump Administration Breached ACLU Family Separation Settlement Agreement   

ACLU letter documents miscarriages, denial of prenatal care, and inadequate food and medical attention for women held in immigration facilities, calling for immediate release and reforms.

Nizar Trabelsi, a Tunisian national and former professional soccer player who was acquitted of terrorism-related charges over two years ago, has finally been flown home to Belgium and released to be reunited with his wife and children. This comes after years of lawsuits challenging his prolonged unlawful detention and inhumane treatment by the United States. “I am so blessed to finally have my freedom after 24 years,” said Mr. Trabelsi. “My family has been waiting so long and we can now be together and start a new chapter in our lives” In 2013, the United States forcibly extradited Mr. Trabelsi from Belgium to face criminal charges in the United States, where he spent almost 10 years in solitary confinement while in pretrial detention. After being cleared of all charges by a federal jury in July 2023, the U.S. immediately transferred him to immigration detention and wrongly treated him as an applicant for admission awaiting deportation. In fact, it was the United States that brought Mr. Trabelsi to this country against his will for prosecution over a decade ago. He spent more than two additional years in immigration detention despite being acquitted. “Mr. Trabelsi’s legal ordeal has finally come to an end,” said Nicole Hallett, clinical professor of law and director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School. “He will be able to do what he should have been able to do years ago – rebuild his life with his family in Belgium.” Mr. Trabelsi was kept in solitary confinement 23 hours a day, unable to communicate with his family, read books, or practice his religion. These conditions were even more restrictive than those he experienced during his 10-year-long pretrial detention, and his mental and physical health were deteriorating by the day. The Belgian government issued multiple formal diplomatic requests asking the U.S. to facilitate his return to Belgium, but the U.S, for years, refused. Instead, the government tried to deport him to Tunisia, where he was born, but where he is likely to face torture. “The government demanded Mr. Trabelsi’s extradition from Belgium for criminal prosecution, and when it failed to convict him, it forced him to suffer more than two years of extremely harsh detention for essentially no purpose at all,” said Brett Max Kaufman, senior counsel with the ACLU’s Center for Democracy. “We’re thrilled that he is finally free again after all this time.” Mr. Trabelsi is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the University of Chicago Law School’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, the ACLU of Virginia, and Professor Jonathan Hafetz of Seton Hall Law School. "Mr. Trabelsi’s inhumane treatment in immigration detention is just the latest in a long string of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s violation of both the law and its own policies,” said Sophia Gregg, senior immigrants’ rights attorney at ACLU of Virginia. "Mr. Trabelsi's reunion with his family comes after being held in detention in the U.S. for years even after being cleared of all charges. That should never have happened."

WASHINGTON — A group of civil and human rights organizations today urged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to end the detention of pregnant people immediately and to investigate alarming reports of medical neglect and abuse in ICE facilities in Louisiana and Georgia. In a letter sent to ICE leadership, the American Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, National Immigration Project, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Sanctuary of the South, and Sanctuary Now Abolition Project detailed the experiences of six women detained at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana, and the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. Several of the women were pregnant or had recently miscarried while in custody. “Our interviews indicate that ICE has issued detainers, arrested, and taken pregnant individuals into custody, even after they have informed officers of their pregnancy, in violation of agency guidance,” advocates warned in their joint letter. “Notably, ICE has issued detainers and then detained several cases of pregnant individuals arising from domestic disputes. This practice endangers survivors of domestic violence, particularly pregnant individuals, who are more vulnerable to abuse and violence.” Advocates interviewed more than a dozen women, and in their letter, also describe disturbing accounts of shackling and use of restraint during transport, solitary confinement, denial of prenatal vitamins, inadequate food, delayed or substandard medical care, and lack of interpretation during medical visits. One woman experienced a dangerous infection after a miscarriage due to ICE’s medical neglect. Along with documenting abuses, the groups also urged ICE to: Identify and release all pregnant, postpartum, and nursing individuals in its custody Comply with its own directive prohibiting the detention of pregnant individuals except in extraordinary circumstances Guarantee timely medical care consistent with community standards of care Investigate failures of informed consent and language access for women seeking gynecological care The groups argue that ICE’s practices continue to violate federal regulations and ICE’s own policies, putting pregnant and postpartum individuals at risk. “I experienced so much pain and trauma while detained,” said Jenny, a mother who was detained in February 2025 at the Basile detention center while she was pregnant. Jenny is using a pseudonym to protect her privacy. “I am sharing my story for all the other women in detention, as well as the women who were deported. There were even women who lost their pregnancies. I want to make sure everyone knows what we had to go through. There are many women in detention who are facing this experience now and each of them needs help and support from advocates, members of Congress, and the community.” A copy of the full letter is available here: https://www.aclu.org/documents/aclu-partners-demand-ice-release-pregnant-and-postpartum-people-from-ice-detention

WASHINGTON — United We Dream (UWD), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Abundant Futures Fund (AFF), have joined forces to launch the Defending Our Neighbors Fund: a bold new initiative that will scale up crucial financial support to legal organizations all across the country. Housed within AFF, the Defending Our Neighbors Fund will help ensure immigrant families facing the threat of separation and wrongful detention and deportations have access to lawyers. Already, the Defending Our Neighbors Fund has raised over $10 million with the goal of raising a total of at least $30 million in emergency response funding. With more than 11 million U.S. citizens living in households with an undocumented family member, countless American families face imminent risk of being torn apart. Many are forced to navigate a complex and punishing system alone, without access to legal counsel. Even young children, the most vulnerable members of our communities, are facing trained prosecutors without anyone by their side. Access to legal support is a vital lifeline for families facing the threat of being separated from their loved ones. By surging much-needed financial support to trusted organizations already providing legal assistance to communities in need, the Defending Our Neighbors Fund helps protect everyone’s right to due process, ensure families can stay together, and increase access to high-quality legal representation and, when possible, bond assistance. To learn more, donate, or become a partner in this historic initiative, visit defendingourneighbors.org. Greisa Martinez Rosas, Executive Director of United We Dream, said: “When I was 17, my father was deported and my family separated forever. That loss isn’t just personal — it is systemic and intentional, with thousands of people rendered vulnerable to mass deportation and family separation with zero access to the legal representation they deserve. I’ve spent every day since organizing and building our community’s collective power so we can protect the future of millions of American families that, just like my own, face the threat of separation. "The Defending Our Neighbors Fund is about more than fighting for legal representation — it’s a vehicle for everyday people to move from empathy to action, from charity to solidarity in defense of their immigrant neighbors. This Fund is an opportunity for neighbors to stand with neighbors in fighting for a democracy that protects all of us. "Together, we must invest in the infrastructure of justice - collective power, collective care and legal support. We invite everyone — philanthropists, organizers, and all our neighbors— to build with us. Donate to the Defend our Neighbors Fund.” Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU, said: “Deportations without due process, unjust detention, and family separation are attacks on bedrock Constitutional rights and all of our communities. The current moment calls for bold, innovative solutions to meet the most urgent needs of our immigrant neighbors and loved ones, and the Defending Our Neighbors Fund is doing just that. The Fund is the antidote to these harmful attacks, and now more than ever, we, the people, must take action to fight back.” Chiqui Sanchez Kennedy, Executive Director of the Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project (GHIRP), said: “In March, we faced a comprehensive attack on immigrant children when legal lifelines were eliminated. In a single week, the government abruptly shut down funding for lawyers for unaccompanied children and placed children on “rocket dockets” where toddlers to pre-teens were forced to appear alone in court on an unprecedented, expedited timeline. With no notice, we were forced to halt representation for hundreds of children who depend on our advocacy. We were faced with the impossible choice of continuing to represent our clients without funding or abruptly withdrawing representation, leaving our clients vulnerable to further harm, exploitation and trafficking. Funding from the Defending Our Neighbors Fund was a lifeline for our clients, our staff, and the organization. It enabled us to find a path forward which included meeting the needs of our young clients and upholding our ethical duties as lawyers.” Marisa Limón Garza, Executive Director of Las Américas Immigrant Advocacy Center: “As hostility towards immigration groups continues, Las Américas lost major funding and faced difficult layoffs. Support from the Defending Our Neighbors Fund arrived at a critical moment. It helped us avoid deeper cuts, keep experienced staff on board, and respond quickly to urgent cases, including access to people detailed at new sites like Camp East Montana at Ft. Bliss. "This funding came at a moment when everything felt uncertain. It meant we could keep showing up for people in detention, for families navigating impossible systems, and for a community that depends on us. In this environment, staying open isn’t guaranteed. Support like this lets us keep the doors open when our community needs us most.” Mary Meg McCarthy, Executive Director of the National Immigrant Justice Center: "The National Immigrant Justice Center has fought to continue providing life-saving legal services since this year's termination of federal programs that reached some of the most vulnerable people in the immigration system, including children who came to the United States alone to seek refuge. Support from the Defending Our Neighbors Fund has been critical to ensure NIJC can still provide counsel for immigrants who face a growing threat of being disappeared into the detention system and removed from the country without due process. In this midst of widespread family separations, the need for new funding streams for legal services is more urgent than ever." ### Created in partnership with United We Dream Network (UWD) and the ACLU, The Defending Our Neighbors Fund is hosted at Abundant Futures Fund, a fiscally sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. The Fund is focused on fundraising, identifying grantees, and rapidly distributing resources to organizations working on the frontlines to support immigrant communities through legal representation and, when possible, bond assistance.