Equity Forward, a reproductive health watchdog group, has sued HHS for its failure to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests regarding children separated from their parents at the southern U.S. border, according to The Hill.
The first of four FOIA requests was filed in January, and the group also requested schedules of HHS officials involved with the separation of families at the border; communications involving the HHS' Office of Refugee Resettlement; and communications between Refugee Resettlement Director Scott Lloyd and groups that may have influenced children under the care of his office.
"Separating children from their families at the border is inhumane and cruel, and HHS has refused to show transparency with the decision-making that has affected the lives of thousands of children and their families," said Mary Alice Carter, Equity Forward executive director. "The public deserves to know how HHS' senior leaders conducted themselves leading up to the manufactured crisis our country is now experiencing. HHS has refused to come forward and say what happened, so we're going to court to get the information."