US to begin reuniting migrant families separated under 'cruel' Trump policy

The United States on May 3 informed that it will begin reuniting migrant children with their parents this week after they were separated by the previous administration of Donald Trump. While taking to Twitter, US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said that four mothers who had fled “extremely dangerous situations in their home countries” would be reunited with children as young as three years old. In a series of tweets, Mayorkas also added that the United States recognises the importance of providing migrant families with the stability and resources they need to heal. 

“We are pleased that the process of reunifications is beginning this week and that these four mothers will be hugging their children after so many years," he wrote.

Further, in a press statement, Mayorkas, who serves as the Chair of the Family Reunification Task Force, said that the move was “just the beginning”. He said that the administration is reuniting the first group of families and many more will follow. Mayorkas added that his department is working day and night, across the federal government and with counsel for the families and our foreign partners, to address the prior administration’s “cruel separation of children from their parents”. 

Back in February, US President Joe Biden had signed an Executive Order establishing the Interagency Task Force on the Reunification of Families in a bid to identify parents and children separated by the previous administration. Biden had called the family separations a “moral failure and a national shame”. He reversed Trump’s “zero-tolerance policy” towards undocumented migrants in 2018 and additionally also scrapped the words “alien” and “illegal alien” to refer to migrants.

‘Exploring options for long term legal stability’ 

Biden along with his cabinet members are on their heels to build up the capacity to care for thousands of migrants who are presently in federal custody, with more likely on their way. The Family Reunification Task Force is working tirelessly to establish a complete database of separated families, correct inaccuracies in the files they were provided, and build the processes to find every family and give them the opportunity to reunite and heal. Moreover, the Task Force is also in the process of reviewing additional cases for reunification in the coming months. 

According to the press note, “The Task Force is also exploring options for long term legal stability for reunified families and identifying and recommending policies to avoid repeating these unnecessary and cruel separations in the future”. 

(Image: AP)