Biden Admin Makes Legal Settlement With Migrants Separated Under Trump’s Family Separation Policy

As part of a court settlement announced Monday by the Biden Administration and the American Civil Liberties Union, migrant families who were separated under a policy enacted by the Trump administration will be permitted to pursue asylum in the United States. The program gives families three years to settle in the United States while providing them housing, mental health services, and legal counsel while seeking asylum. After years of discussions, a settlement was filed in federal court in San Diego to redress the suffering caused by family separations in 2017 and 2018.

As reported by NBC, the goal was to send a strong message to families who were considering coming to the United States for whatever reason. Several thousand foreign-born children were separated from their parents. It was later revealed that hundreds of children born in the United States who crossed the border with migrant parents were also treated in this way. The settlement is anticipated to be approved by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw of the Southern District of California, although he may be asked to evaluate concerns. Objectors might include groups like America First Legal, a conservative legal organization led by Stephen Miller, a former Trump advisor and the policy's alleged architect.

Thousands of families were torn apart at the border as a result of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy, which spurred demonstrations in the streets and ultimately led to a rare turnaround from the President himself.

According to official statistics, border authorities separated at least 2,800 children from their parents under Trump's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy. Before Trump's order took effect in 2018, officials discovered that over 1,000 children had been taken from their homes. Evaluation and Inspections Assistant Inspector General Ann Maxwell in 2019 stated, "More children over a longer period of time were separated by immigration authorities and were referred to HHS for care than is commonly discussed in the public debate. How many more children were separated is unknown. There was no effort underway to identify those children. HHS[Health and Human Services] faced significant challenges."

On Monday, government officials said the task force had gone through hundreds of government data to locate separated families and reunited more than 750 children. Another 85 children are also being identified and will be reunited with their families, officials said. More than 290 children who are citizens of the United States and who were separated from their parents have been identified, according to the task force. The class action lawsuit's primary attorney, Lee Gelernt of the American Civil Liberties Union stated, "This settlement is huge a step forward for the families that were so cruelly separated years ago. It will allow them to reunify and seek status in the US. Critically, it will also prohibit such a cruel policy in the future. Whatever one thinks about border policy generally, this country must never again enact a policy that rips away little children."