Commentary: The power of the courts and the people can still protect immigrants' rights

For immigrants, there's no way to sugarcoat 2018. The Trump administration enacted a series of draconian policies targeting noncitizens, and the one that will most define the year - and this administration - is the separation of thousands of children, some less than a year old, from their mothers and fathers at the U.S. border.

Conceived as a means to deter people from seeking refuge, the scope of the "zero tolerance" family separation policy was unprecedented, notwithstanding the administration's claim that past presidents engaged in similar practices. The government took