President Joe Biden’s administration is weighing the idea of doling out substantial payments to illegal immigrant families who former President Donald Trump’s administration separated at the U.S.-Mexico border under its “zero tolerance” policy in 2018, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
The payments would be made to settle lawsuits brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) representing those families.
The ACLU is asking for about $3.4 million per family. Biden’s administration is countering with a $450,000 per person payout, which would total just under $1 million per family.
The Journal says that 940 claims have been filed by immigrant families so far, and that the ACLU is representing about 5,500 children who have suffered some form of physical and/or mental trauma due to the family separation.
“The Biden administration is correct to provide relief to the children and families affected by the government’s horrific practice of family separation,” ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said in a statement. “Their suffering is something they will always live with, and it is a deep moral stain on our country. We need to make it right, and this includes not simply any monetary support, but also a path to remain here. This is what is right and fair.”
In the end, Biden’s settlement offer would total nearly $1 billion of taxpayer dollars.
There has been some pushback from the other side of the political aisle, with Republican Congressmen making their opinions known on Twitter.
So far, the White House has declined to comment.
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