SAN DIEGO – The federal government will be barred from an immigration policy that separates parents from children for eight years under a proposed court settlement announced Monday that also provides families separated under the Trump administration with temporary legal status and short-term housing assistance .
The settlement between the Biden administration and the American Civil Liberties Union, if approved by a judge, would at least temporarily ban the type of “zero tolerance” policy on illegal immigration under which former President Donald Trump separated thousands of families at the border with Mexico.
“It is our intention to do whatever we can to ensure that the atrocities of the past are not repeated in the future. We are establishing procedures through this settlement agreement to advance that effort,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told The Associated Press.
Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, has not ruled out reviving the highly controversial tactic on the southern border if he wins next year’s election.
His administration is separating children from their parents or guardians en route as it moves to criminally prosecute people for crossing the border illegally. The child, who cannot be held in criminal custody, is transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services and then usually sent to live with a sponsor, often a relative or other person with family ties.
A broken tracking system left many separated for long periods of time or never reunited with their parents. Facing strong opposition, Trump finally reversed course in 2018, days before US District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego halted the practice and ordered immediate reunification in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU.
People who have been detained in connection with cases of illegal entry into the United States, sit in one of the cages at a facility in McAllen, Texas.AP
During a CNN town hall in May, Trump did not commit to whether he would again separate families if elected. “When you say to the family that if you come we will break you, they won’t come,” he said when pressed.
Lee Gelernt, lead attorney for the ACLU, said a ban on any future attempts to separate families as a deterrent to illegal immigration is important.
“This settlement means that babies and children will finally be able to meet their parents after years of separation and these suffering families will have the opportunity to obtain legal status,” he said. “Nothing can bring this family back together but it’s at least a start.”
Under the settlement, children can still be separated from their parents or guardians, but under limited scenarios, as has been the case for years. It includes if the child is abused or the parent commits a more serious crime than crossing the border illegally.
Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump spoke on Wednesday, Oct. 11. 2023, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Fla.AP
President Joe Biden issued an executive order on his first day in office to reunite families. According to figures released by the Department of Homeland Security in February, 3,881 children were separated from their families from 2017 to 2021. About 74% of them were reunited with their families: 2,176 before the Biden administration’s task force was created and 689 after that.
Hundreds of families sued the federal government, demanding both financial damages and policy changes.
In 2021, the government was discussing the possibility of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to each parent and child separated under Trump’s policy but talks stalled on that.
But the proposed settlement provides key benefits including permission for parents of separated children to come to the US under humanitarian parole for three years and work in the United States. Families receive up to a year of housing assistance and medical and behavioral health benefits designed to address some of the trauma associated with separation.
Mayorkas describes how he met a woman who had been separated from her daughter and how after they were reunited, her daughter was still struggling with the experience.
“We need to help this family heal. And that is the duty we bear because of the pain we inflicted on them,” he said.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the practice of separating families was “disgraceful” and that the proposed settlement would provide those affected with critical support to recover.
They will also have access to legal services which will be important as they may file an asylum application to stay in the United States permanently. The settlement also waives the usual one-year timeline limiting when someone can apply for asylum, and parents can apply even if they have been previously rejected. A special supervisory team will review their cases.
Some of these benefits have been available to families under a task force created by the Biden administration designed to reunite separated families. But Gelernt said the settlement goes beyond the task force’s purview in key ways such as asylum assistance.
The settlement would require the government to keep detailed documentation when separating children from parents to avoid the chaos that erupted during Trump-era family separations where parents and children cannot be quickly reunited.
Now that the government and the ACLU have agreed on a settlement plan, a judge will hold a hearing to decide whether to accept it. Before that, people who oppose the settlement can raise objections to the judge.
Santana reports from Washington.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
