Blumenthal & Castro Welcome Biden Administration Efforts to Reunify Immigrant Families & Call for Passage of the Families Belong Together Act

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro (TX-20), authors of the Families Belong Together Act, commended President Biden for taking action to begin reuniting families separated by the Trump Administration’s zero-tolerance immigration policy and urged the Biden Administration to make every effort to enable those families to be reunited in the United States. Blumenthal and Castro also announced plans to reintroduce their bicameral legislation to provide a path to citizenship to children and parents who were affected by the family separation crisis.

“This strong step toward the reunification of children and parents exemplifies a simple and enduring truth: families belong together,” Blumenthal said. “The Biden-Harris executive actions start righting the wrongs of the Trump Administration’s barbaric ‘zero tolerance policy’ and enable separated families to be reunited here in the United States. The next step is passing our bicameral bill to provide the victims of the Trump Administration’s unconscionable policy with permanent legal status, which will provide the enduring protection necessary to ensure all separated families can be reunited here in the United States. Congressman Castro and I will be reintroducing our legislation shortly, and we look forward to working closely with the Biden-Harris Administration to ensure that these families are reunited and given the opportunity to rebuild their families in safety.”

“The Trump administration committed horrific human rights abuses by separating families at the border. I commend President Biden for immediately working to reunite these families and ensure these atrocities never happen again. Immigrant rights advocates have been working tirelessly to reunite families and their non-stop efforts without U.S. government help have been extraordinary,” said Castro. “Senator Blumenthal and I have proposed the Family Belongs Together Act to provide permanent legal protection for separated families, and we urge the Biden-Harris administration to reunite separated families here in the United States. Reuniting thousands of separated families will not be easy, but I’m confident that the Biden-Harris administration will do everything in their power to bring families together.”

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