The Biden administration and the American Civil Liberties Union reached a proposed settlement agreement that would benefit immigrant parents and their children.
The settlement is awaiting approval from a judge but if passed, would temporarily prohibit the “zero-tolerance” policy on illegal immigration which separated families at the border with Mexico.
The Biden administration and the ACLU have reached a settlement that would provide relief for migrant families separated from their kids under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy. https://t.co/DOJbkOj3FU
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) October 17, 2023
The proposed settlement also provides authorization for parents of separated children to cross back to the United States under “humanitarian parole” for three years where they can work in the U.S. The families would receive housing aid for up to a year and medical and behavioral health benefits.
“So far, we’ve contacted, over the past three years, approximately 1,300 families and where we stand now is that over 75% of the originally identified families who were separated have either been reunified or have been provided with the information they need to begin to reunification process,” the senior administration official said, noting that 3,000 children were reunited by non-government organizations.
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“It is our intent to do whatever we can to make sure that the cruelty of the past is not repeated in the future. We set forth procedures through this settlement agreement to advance that effort,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.
In 2018, former President Trump announced the dubbed “zero tolerance” policy, which the Justice Department initiated criminal prosecutions of every adult illegally crossing the border. As a result, parents were separated from their kids since children were not allowed to be kept in federal jail.
Migrants with a criminal record or who pose national security issues wouldn’t qualify for the settlement, according to officials.
Lee Gelernt, lead counsel for the ACLU said, “This settlement means that babies and toddlers will finally get to see their parents after years apart and that these suffering families will have an opportunity to seek lawful status. It also crucially bars an attempt by a future administration to reenact another family separation policy,” said Gelernt. “Nothing can make these families whole again but this is at least a start.”
The ACLU have been working with the Biden administration’s reunification task force to identify and locate migrant parents who are still searching for their separated children.
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