Friday 17th December 2021
Persecution of migrant families
Trump’s victims have to wait for compensation
Ex-US President Trump has 4,000 migrant children forcibly separated from their families on the border with Mexico. His successor in office, Biden, promises to make amends. Human rights activists are suing for damages. But nothing will come of it for the time being.
The US government has suspended negotiations on financial compensation for migrant families separated on the border with Mexico. The US Department of Justice said on Thursday (local time): “Although the parties were unable to reach a global agreement at this point, we remain committed to working with the plaintiffs.” According to this, the administration of US President Joe Biden still wants to give “justice” to the victims of the policies of his predecessor Donald Trump.
Under Trump, the US authorities separated thousands of children of undocumented migrants from their parents on the border with Mexico. Victims’ representatives then sued for compensation for the psychological damage they had suffered. They announced that they will continue their legal battle. “We will go back to court,” said civil rights activist Lee Learned. “The trauma inflicted on these children and parents by our own government is incredible.” He went on to say, “It would be an understatement to say that we are disappointed”.
Biden admitted that “the policy of helping the young children who have been deliberately abused by our government stands in the way.” The Democrat Biden started with the election promise to pursue a more humane immigration policy than his Republican predecessor Trump. Trump had illegal immigrants arrested and prosecuted. If they were caught crossing the border with children without authorization, the minors were housed in camps separate from them.
The US authorities said in the summer that a total of almost 4,000 children had been forcibly separated from their families. Of these, almost 1,800 minors were brought back to their families. However, court documents show that 5,500 children were separated from their parents. Most of them came from Central America and Mexico.