The Quote Below—More Misinformation from the Media
“President Joe Biden suggested this week that paying immigrant families separated by the Trump administration $450,000 in compensation per separated person — as the Department of Justice is reportedly currently discussing in settlement talks — is too much to ask the federal government. The White House has noted it hasn’t ruled out some form of payout altogether.
“Some 5,600 families were intentionally separated in immigration detention under former President Donald Trump in 2017 and 2018 after they tried to cross the southern US border without authorization, and about 1,000 families have yet to be reunited. . . .
“For those families, the $450,000 figure reflects the price of dealing with what could be lifelong psychological and health consequences of the trauma of separation, . . .
“Republicans have seized on the issue, seeking to weaponize it against Biden. Nearly a dozen Republican senators recently argued in a letter to the White House that a settlement ‘would financially reward aliens who broke our laws’ and “encourage more lawlessness” at the southern border, where the Biden administration has continued to uphold hardline Trump-era enforcement policies, which facilitate the mass expulsions of migrants.
“Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has ridiculed the idea. . . . The federal government has compensated victims of its own policies before, including those subject to Japanese American internment during World War II
“[But] advocates argue $450,000 is not an unreasonable amount given what separated families have endured, and will continue to suffer, as a result of their separation. . . .
“Family separation carries long-term psychological and health impacts that might not manifest until years later, or worsen over time — outcomes that the US government predicted even before implementing the family separation policy.
“Commander Jonathan White, who previously oversaw the government’s program providing care to unaccompanied immigrant children, told Congress that he repeatedly warned the officials who concocted the policy that it would likely have “significant potential for traumatic psychological injury to the child. . . .’.
“While the money won’t undo the harms caused by US government officials, it would begin to help separated families move forward and serve as a public statement that what happened to them was wrong. . . .” — What Is the Price of Separated Immigrant Families Trauma?’ Trauma, Nicole Narea, Vox, 11/5/21 [Link]
Fact Check of Above Quote: When word of this proposal first surfaced, President Biden said such an idea was “garbage.” Later he had to concede it was true, but his first response was totally appropriate. Rewarding people who break our laws with a huge bundle of cash is truly a garbage idea. Consider the size of the proposed jackpot: up to $450.000, Compare that with $121,411, the median of net household assets in this country. With just one payoff, an illegal alien will be catapulted to a level of wealth far above that of most Americans. For another comparison, consider that relatives of U.S. solders who die in combat only get $100,000. Does the Biden Administration have less esteem defenders of our country and its laws less than foreign lawbreakers?
This article strives to manipulate sympathy for illegal alien parents separated from their children. That sympathy isn’t warranted. Loopholes in our immigration law encourage illegal aliens to bring children with them. The children make it more likely that they will be allowed to stay in the U.S. To gain this advantage the alien adults subject the children to considerable danger during the trek to the U.S. border. These people who put the children at risk have no claim on our compassion.
Contrary to what this article suggests, immigration authorities do not separate family members because they are cruel and sadistic. The common reason for the separations is to protect the children. Generally, it’s not a good idea not to house adult offenders with children. Some parents are not fit parents, and some adults who claim to be parents are not related to the children at all.
The most important point to keep in mind is that U.S. law does not authorize compensation for legally conducted enforcement, even if the subjects of that enforcement find it unpleasant. We compensated Japanese-Americans because they were citizens who, in the great majority of cases, were innocent of any wrongdoing. We owe nothing to foreigners who willingly broke our immigration laws which are necessary to protect our national sovereignty. As usual, illegal alien advocates have difficulty grasping the meaning and significance of citizenship.
If anyone should be getting compensation it should be Americans who have suffered crimes committed by illegal aliens. Their trauma is directly attributable to the refusal of our leadership classes to do the jobs they are supposed to do.