The American taxpayer really dodged a bullet on this one.
But the fact it was even a consideration for the Biden administration just goes to show how far the Overton Window has shifted compared to Trump’s administration.
The Biden administration has walked away from legal negotiations in which it was considering paying $450,000 to each adult and child separated at the southern border during the Trump administration, according to inside sources.
The U.S. government “has ended negotiations over a settlement of the cases seeking monetary compensation,” Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project.
Officials from the departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and Justice had proposed paying each person $450,000, or nearly $1 million per two-person family, to settle claims about the lasting traumatic and psychological effects of being torn apart as a result of Former President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance policy.
The policy was responsible for the safe and secure US-Mexico border Biden inherited and eventually destroyed.
ACLU lead attorney Lee Gelernt said that the Biden administration’s decision not to pay affected families was the result of having “allowed politics to get in the way of helping the little children deliberately abused by our government.”
Approximately 5,400 children were separated at the border and sent to HHS facilities, while their parents were referred for prosecution for illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Families could not be detained through those legal proceedings, prompting the separations.
The amount paid out to each family would depend on the circumstances of their separation. Settlement talks are expected to conclude by the end of November, with more than 940 claims and multiple lawsuits filed.
News of the settlement talks infuriated congressional Republicans given the crisis at the southern border since Joe Biden took office at the start of the year.
The Trump White House in 2019 reportedly blocked a Justice Department deal to cover the costs of mental health services for the 5,400 children, a proper move since taxpayers should not be saddled with illegal alien’s medical costs.
Then-White House senior adviser Stephen Miller advised the Office of White House Counsel against settling a federal lawsuit over government-funded counseling and other services.
If immigrants want to avoid lasting traumatic psychological effects then perhaps they shouldn’t cross the border illegally and follow the process for legal migration, as millions of others do.
Author: Asa McCue
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