Ahead of tomorrow’s court-ordered reunification deadline, more than 1,000 children remain separated as a result of Trump’s family separation policies, and this week, the Trump administration admitted in court that it has deported more than 450 immigrant parents without their children.
Now, the Trump administration is using every excuse not to reunite separated families. They’ve continued to incarcerate children in nightmarish conditions, deport parents without their children, and refuse immigrants urgent medical care with dire consequences. They’re even putting infants into deportation court by themselves.
The only reason any children have been reunited with their parents is because courts are forcing the Trump administration to start dealing with the crisis they created. Trump officials deserve no credit for these reunifications.
In fact, the Trump administration continues to plan to detain thousands of additional immigrant children, and DOD and HHS are already planning to build new detention camps to house them.
The Trump administration is diverting tens of millions of dollars from other vital health programs to deal with the damage caused by its family separation policy.
This was always Trump’s goal: to use trauma to try to deter people from seeking asylum in the United States instead of addressing the root causes of the problem.
Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and Republicans in Congress are complicit in Trump’s inhumane immigration policies. They’ve stood aside while Trump created a humanitarian crisis on our border.
Trump and Republicans never wanted to pass a meaningful immigration fix. They sabotaged Dream Act legislation, enacted the Muslim ban, and now they are trying to delay bills to keep families together until after the election.
If Republicans were serious about ending the trauma at the border, they would support clean and permanent legislation to undo it – such as the Keeping Families Together Act in the Senate and the House.
Democrats will hold Republicans responsible in November for their cruelty to children and families. We believe diversity and compassion are our nation’s greatest strengths. And we will continue the fight to protect and expand opportunities for immigrant families and all Americans.