The Biden administration has ceased negotiations about potꦆential payouts to illegal immigrant families separated at the US-Mexico border during the Trump administrꦕation after floating payments of up to $450,000 per person.
The Justice Department had held talks aimed at settling lawsuits filed on behalf of families separated under President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy in 2018. News that discussions ha🐻d ended was first reported by .
“It would be an understatement to say we are disappointed that the Biden administration allowed polit🉐ics to get in the way of helping the little children deliberately abused by our government,” attorney Lee Gelernt of the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement. “We are going back to court. The trauma inflicted on these children and parents at the hands of our very own government is unfathomable. We need to doꦉ the right thing.”
“While the parties have been unable to reach a global settlement agreement at this time, we remain committed to engaging with the plaintiffs and to bringing justice to the victims of this abhorrent policy,” the DOJ said in a statement.
Reports of the mooted payouts first emerged in October, w❀hen the Wall Street Journal reported the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services were considering them as an option to settle the lawsuits filed by the ACLU and other groups.
The average demand in each suit added up to roughly⛄ $3.4 million per family. However, the reported settlement offer proposed payments of $450,000 per person or around $1 million per family.
Republicans immediately criticized the proposal, calling it “insanity,” “unacceptab𝓰le” and a “slap in the face.”
In November, President Biden adamantly defended ꧋the potential move, slamming the Trump administration for “🌱outrageous behavior.”
“Whether [the border crossing] was legal or illega♉l, and you lost your child,” Biden said. “You lost your child, it’s gone — you dese🙈rve some kind of compensation, no matter what the circumstance.
“What that will be,” he added,♌ “I have no idea.”
Previously, Biden appeared out of the🍎 loop on the negotiations after Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked him about the Journal’s initial report on th𒁃e $1 million payout per family.
“That’s not gonna happen,” Biden said flatly.
“You ౠguys keep sending that garbage out,” the president added. “But it’s not true.”
Not long after, the ACLU released a statement hinting that the president “may not🔯 have been fully briefed about the actions of his very own Justice Department.”
“If he follows through on what he said, the president is abandoning a core campaign promise to do justice for the thousands of separated families,” ACLU executive director Anthony D. Romero said at the time. “We call on President Biden to right the wrongs of this national tragedy.🌳”
White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment Thursday, citing ongoing 🍸litigation.
