Biden 'Perfectly Comfortable' With Compensation for Illegal Migrants Separated at Border

Late last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration is considering hefty compensation for illegal migrants who allegedly sustained "psychological trauma" as a result of their separation at the US border during Donald Trump's presidency.

The White House has made it clear that President Joe Biden is still in favour of cash payouts to migrant families separated at the nation's southern border under the Trump administration, but not at a rate of $450,000 per refugee.

"If it saves taxpayer dollars and puts the disastrous history of the previous administration's use of 'zero tolerance' and family separation behind us, the president is perfectly comfortable with the Department of Justice (DOJ) settling with the individuals and families who are currently in litigation with the US government", White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday.

She made the comment a day after Biden told Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy that reports of the US administration offering up to $450,000 to illegal migrants separated at the border are "garbage" and "not going to happen".

Jean-Pierre insisted that POTUS was not contradicting himself as she claimed he was specifically referring to the $450,000 figure when he said it would not happen.

"As press accounts to date indicate, DOJ made clear to the plaintiffs that the reported figures are higher than anywhere that a settlement can land", the press secretary said, suggesting lower payouts and referring to the Justice Department for further details related to the issue.

She spoke after American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Executive Director Anthony Romero on Thursday lashed out at Biden's "garbage" remarks, saying that if POTUS "follows through on what he said, the president is abandoning a core campaign promise to do justice for the thousands of separated families".

In a separate development on Thursday, House Republicans introduced a bill to block a reported plan by the Biden administration to pay hefty compensation to each undocumented migrant separated under Trump's "zero tolerance" policies.

The Illegal Immigration Payoff Prohibition Act, rolled out by Tom McClintock, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship, is co-sponsored by House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan, and 135 other members.

WSJ Report on $450K Payouts to Illegal Migrants

In late October, The Wall Street Journal reported that the US departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services are considering the proposal to resolve lawsuits filed on behalf of parents and children who allegedly suffered psychological trauma as a result of family separation.

According to the report, the compensation sums could stand at $450,000 per migrant and up to $1 million per impacted family, with a total payout of more than $1 billion to roughly 5,500 children who were separated after crossing the US border with Mexico under the previous administration.

In early February, Biden ordered the creation of an inter-agency task force for the "reunification of families" along the southern border, setting a 120-day deadline to submit an initial report.

Shortly after assuming office in January 2021, POTUS decided to reverse the Trump administration's hardline immigration policies, specifcally halting construction of a border wall, moving to end "harsh and extreme immigration enforcement", and promising to "restore and expand" the asylum system.

In 2018, then-US Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that Washington had adopted a "zero-tolerance policy" for immigration offences that required prosecution of all illegal entry referrals at the southwest border, including misdemeanours, regardless of whether the migrant adult was with a family unit.