Biden halts plan to pay illegal immigrant families separated at border

The federal government has pulled out of negotiations to pay massive settlements to illegal immigrant families who were separated at the border during the Trump administration, lawyers for the families said Thursday.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which had been leading negotiations on the reported $450,000 payments, said the talks have ended, though it didn’t know why.

“It’s hard to understand DOJ’s decision other than it was influenced by political considerations,” Lee Gelernt, an ACLU lawyer, told The Associated Press.

The Justice Department confirmed the breakdown. 

“After months of negotiations, the Biden Administration today abandoned the thousands of families torn apart by the prior administration,” said Tami Goodlette, Director of Litigation at the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services.

The payments had become a political loser for the Biden team, with polls showing the public decidedly opposed to the idea.

Faced with that opposition, the ACLU launched an ad campaign in the Washington area this week to try to amp up pressure on President Biden to “repair” the damage done to the families.

“We are now officially putting the Biden administration on notice: Thousands of little children were separated from their parents and remain without justice,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said on Wednesday.

By Thursday, his organization was acknowledging the negotiations failed.