The Biden administration is considering issuing payments to immigrant families that were separated at the southern border under the Trump administration around $450,000 a person in compensation, for a total payout that could cost the government more than $1 billion, according to a new report.
People familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journalthat the U.S. Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services are weighing the payments as they work to resolve lawsuits claiming that the government subjected parents and children to lasting psychological trauma.
The report says most of the families included one parent and one child who crossed the border illegally from Mexico and that many families would likely get smaller payouts, dependent upon their circumstances.
While the American Civil Liberties Union says about 5,500 children were separated from their families at the border under the Trump administration, government officials expect that the number of families eligible under the potential settlement will be smaller.
The separation occurred under Trump’s zero-tolerance policy, which began in April 2018 under an executive order that was issued without warning to other federal agencies that would have to manage the policy, according to the Associated Press. The policy made it so all adults who illegally entered the U.S., including those with children, were referred for prosecution.
Children who entered with those adults were separated from them and placed into the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services. The separations occurred with no process for reuniting the families, as some parents were deported. President Trump later ended the policy in an executive order on June 20, 2018.
