In an effort to deal with lawsuits filed on behalf of parents and children claiming US government subjected them to psychological trauma by separating them from their families at the border, President Biden’s administration is considering whether to make payments to them, Wall Street Journal learns.
According to “people familiar with the matter,” the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services could issue compensation amount of around $450,000 a person to immigrants affected by Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policy.
Though final payment could change because, depending on their circumstances – like the fact that most of the asylum seeking families that crossed the Mexico border illegally included one parent and one child- some would likely get smaller payouts, the considered payments could amount to close to $1 million a family.
Citing government provided numbers in 2018, the American Civil Liberties Union pointed that Trump’s immigration policies separated at least 2,654 immigrant children from their parents or caregivers so the total potential payout could be over $1 billion.
The lawyers for the families and the government have recently told the courts overseeing the cases that there are ongoing settlement negotiations that might lead to a deal by the end of November.
Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s immigrant-rights project and a lead negotiator on one of the lawsuits, pointed that President Biden believes that the family separation policy was a historic moral stain on the us that must be fully remedied not only by meaningful financial compensation, but also by pathway to remain in the US.
Reacting to the WSJ’s report in a tweet, Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw pointed that Biden administration wants to reward illegal immigrants to $450,000 for breaking US laws, stressing that those payments are larger than what current life insurance programs offer active service members in the Armed forces by the government.
For perspective the maximum amount of Servicemembers Group Life Insurance coverage is $400,000 as of Sept. 1, 2005. The Department of Veterans Affairs- supervised life insurance program is available to all active duty and reserve members of the uniformed services.
Some Republicans also criticized the potential payments with Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton blasting Biden administration pointing that their promises of citizenship and entitlement programs have caused the worst border crisis in history and will now worsen the situation with a huge cash rewards.
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