Jayapal Supports Biden Settlement To Help Separated Families
India-West Staff Reporter
WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, commended the Biden administration’s announcement of a settlement connected to the family separation policy implemented during the Trump Administration.
In a statement, Jayapal said, “This announcement is a very significant step forward in addressing the extreme pain, violations of rights, and consequences of those violations for the separated families. It is also necessary to ensure the Trump administration’s cruel, zero-humanity family separation policy will never happen again under future administrations.”
Referring to her 2018 visit to the border, Jayapal said, “my colleagues and I watched in horror as news leaked of the Trump administration’s barbaric and deliberate family separation policy. I was the first Member of Congress to go into a federal prison and talk to hundreds of mothers and fathers who had been cruelly separated from their children, some as young as just a few months old. I will never forget their stories of agony as they described being torn from their children without any opportunity to say goodbye, hug their children one last time, or even give them some words of comfort.”
Vijay
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Wrong approach. Immigrants have no right to ask for taxpayers dollars. We owe to first American citizens who are homeless and need urgent help.
October 19, 2023Pradeep Srivastava
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The following is what I learn regarding the settlement issue from the NPR article, “U.S. government agrees to settlement with migrant families separated at the border”; Updated October 16, 20237:18 PM ET
“The deal, which needs to be approved by U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw, bars immigration officials from imposing a blanket policy of family separation for the next eight years. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas signaled that the current White House has no plans to split apart families. “It is vital that we adhere to our country’s fundamental values, and we will not deviate from that,” he told NPR.”
“The settlement also specifies that families who were separated will get an interview with an asylum officer briefed on their experience. They’ll also get work authorization and housing benefits.
Mayorkas said families will be given access to mental health resources. “I have met with reunited families,” he said. “The trauma does not end with reunification. There is a great deal of healing needed. And we are committed to doing that which is to necessary to restoring these individuals, their health and well-being.””
“While most of the separated families have since been reunited, up to 1,000 children are still not with their parents, according to the ACLU. More than five years after the policy ended, these children remain scattered across the U.S., living with extended relatives, family friends or under state supervision.”
“Monday’s settlement stipulates that the U.S. government will continue to pay to help reunify families who are still separated. This includes finding parents and guardians who were deported and bringing them back to the U.S.”
“This settlement does not give monetary compensation. Officials ended those negotiations back in 2021, after Republican lawmakers expressed outrage, saying the amounts under consideration were too high.“
In my opinion, while the family separation policy of the Trump era might have discouraged migrants from entering the US illegally, it was an inhumane, senseless, uncivilized, and unacceptable policy, therefore, I am glad this issue was settled in the Biden administration, Biden being a compassionate and reasonable person to begin with. However, as much as I support Biden, I have always felt that the uncontrolled border crossings of migrants was the weak link in his other otherwise strong chain of accomplishments. Thankfully, now he has realized his mistake and has even agreed to spend money on building walls.
October 20, 2023