The Biden administration is considering how to compensate families who were separated at the border in 2018. The right is outraged while one commentator on the left wonders what Republicans would say if it were Jews escaping Nazi Germany.
Summary
Illegal immigrant families could receive a near-seven-figure payout for their separation and detention while trying to enter the United States.
- The Biden administration is considering six-figure payments to individual illegal immigrants whose families were separated at the border by the Trump administration.
- The payments would be to each person affected, meaning a family would get $900,000 through lawsuits filed by 950 families.
- The ACLU is backing the Biden administration, saying it is the correct way to “provide relief” for “their suffering.”
- 5,500 children were separated from adults as part of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy that allowed parents to separately face prosecution for illegally entering the United States.
- When covering this story, Al-Jazeera noted that the Biden administration has continued border enforcement policies carried over from the Trump administration including some that the left considers “unjust”.
- The New York Times noted that the ALCU is also fighting for citizenship for those “wronged.”
- An opinion columnist for Arizona Central blasted Republicans for criticizing the apparent deal, rhetorically asking if they would oppose compensation if they were Jews fleeing Nazi Germany.
- Fox News highlighted the resistance from Republican lawmakers more favorably than the Arizona Central, quoting GOP Rep Dan Crenshaw on Twitter: “For perspective, if a service member is killed in action, their next of kin gets an insurance payment of $400,000”.
- Newsmax noted that 1,000 children separated in 2018 have yet to be reunited with the parents.
- RedState characterized the move as more evidence that the Biden administration “had little sympathy” for Americans dealing with “economic distress” by giving “an extreme amount of money to illegal immigrant families.”
Author’s Take
One can debate the merits of this considered policy and in clear-eyed debate, both sides could easily make valid points. Yet, like the decision to participate in a town hall event with CNN, one scratches their head and wonders who in the Biden administration thought this was the best time to publicize this let alone go forward with it.
Americans of every political stripe would be justified in their outrage over this. The Biden administration’s efforts here are de facto rewards for breaking the law and entering the United States illegally. It’s that simple and it’s wrong.
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© Dallas Gerber, 2021
