Blumenthal Statement on DOJ OIG Report on Family Separation
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement in response to a new report by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General looking at the implementation of the Trump Administration’s family separation policy. In 2019, Blumenthal and U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX) introduced legislation to provide children and families who were victims of the policy with legal status and a pathway to citizenship.
“The Trump Administration’s family separation policy was pure evil. This report lays bare the careless cruelty of the officials who implemented the Trump Administration’s brutal family separation policy. Whether it was mere incompetence and or intentional viciousness, Attorney General Sessions and top Department of Justice officials’ lack of care for the human cost of their policies is breathtaking,” Blumenthal said.
“Every Administration official responsible for this cruel policy and its cover-up needs to be held responsible. Congressman Castro and I introduced legislation to provide the victims of this barbaric process with legal status and a path to citizenship, ensuring that they receive treatment for their trauma and the opportunity to rebuild their families in safety. Passing this bill will be one of my top priorities in the new Congress.”
The Families Belong Together Act would take a first step towards redressing the grave harms committed against victims of the family separation policy by:
- Granting affected children and their parents or legal guardians who are currently outside the United States the opportunity to return to live within our borders, and the ability to adjust their status to lawful permanent resident status;
- Providing affected children and their parents or legal guardians a path to citizenship, so that they can be fully secure and access medical treatment to heal from the trauma of the family separation policy, and;
- Increasing funding for federal programs to find eligible children and parents, inform them of their legal rights, and help facilitate their access to counsel.
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