What Does the U.S. Owe Separated Families? A Political Quandary Deepens
The New York Times
Seizing on premature news of potential $450,000 payments, conservatives have added new complications to an effort to compensate migrant families separated by the Trump administration.
The Trump administration’s family separation policy drew condemnations when it came to public light in 2018, not only from Democrats but also from Republicans like Senator Ted Cruz and Melania Trump.
Thousands of mothers and fathers languished in cells without any idea of their children’s whereabouts or whether they would ever see them again, and thousands of young children were stranded in shelters without understanding what was happening. Years later, many of the children still struggle with the trauma, lawyers for the families say.
For the federal government, putting a number on what it might owe the families — some of whom are now suing for damages — has proved complicated.
