President Biden’s Justice Department has claimed in court that families separated at the border during the Trump administration are not entitled to compensation, despite Biden’s own position in recent months.
Biden’s DOJ is claiming in federal court that the US government is protected from court cases from illegal immigrants separated from their families at the border, according to court filings.
The argument comes a month after Biden’s Justice Department canceled settlement talks with migrants separated at the border, sparking uproar from the ACLU.
The Department of Justice backed out of the talks, citing recent rumors that the DOJ might award illegal-immigrant families separated under Trump’s zero-tolerance policy up to $450,000 in damages each.
Conchita Cruz, co-executive director of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, revealed that “The moment they said they were going to back away from settlement negotiations, this is where they were headed. If the government wants to actually win these cases, then they do have to argue that the families aren’t eligible. That’s what is so shocking.”
In November, President Biden stated that he believes the separated families should be compensated, but that he had no clue how much money they should receive.
