PHOENIX — The American Civil Liberties Union is seeking potentially millions of dollars in damages on behalf of thousands of immigrant families who were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The ACLU and other attorneys filed a lawsuit Thursday against past and present Trump administration officials in federal court in Tucson alleging the government violated immigrants’ rights and traumatized young children who were taken from their parents after crossing the border illegally.

Most of the families were from Central America and many were asylum-seekers.

READ MORE: Why did you leave me?’ In new testimonies, migrants describe the ‘torment’ of child separation

Another ongoing lawsuit successfully sought to end the practice of family separations, a hallmark of the early months of the Trump administration which sought to deter families from coming to the U.S. by taking children away.

The government still separates children from relatives if they’re not a parent or legal guardian.