Topline
The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday published the results of a 21-month investigation into the Trump administration’s infamous “family separation” policy, offering new insight into a process—described by the committee as “marked by reckless incompetence and intentional cruelty”—which has gained renewed attention in the run-up to the 2020 election.
US President Donald Trump participates in a ceremony commemorating the 200th mile of border wall at ... [+]
Key Facts
The committee produced a 551-page report it describes as “the first complete narrative” of the family separation policy, based in part on primary source documents from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The report found that the Trump administration pressed ahead with its national implementation of family separations “despite full knowledge that hundreds of children would likely be lost to their families forever.”
Less than a month after President Trump’s inauguration, his administration began considering a child separation policy and then tested it with a pilot program in El Paso, Texas beginning in July 2017.
According to the report, during this five-month program, government officials acknowledged that they were unable to track separated family members in a way that allowed for their later unification but still launched the national program in May.
After months of separations, which the report says affected 856 children (26% of whom were under the age of five) from January to April 2018 alone, strong public backlash and bipartisan condemnation led the president to sign an executive order in June 2018 largely ending the practice.
The Trump administration and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment.
Chief Critic
“When the policy eventually ended, the lack of interagency planning, coordination and capacity was evident,” said the report. “As administration officials had predicted, the government lacked the capacity to track separated family members. Efforts to reunite separated children continue to this day.”
Big Number
545. That’s the number of children who—two years later—still have not been reunited with their parents, according to the ACLU.
Crucial Quote
“We had a shortage last night of beds for babies,” wrote an official at the Office of Refugee Resettlement to the agency's director on November 11, 2017. This is just one example of the government’s lack of preparedness, cited in the report.
Key Background
The Trump administration’s child separation policy rose to the fore earlier this month when NBC News reported on the hundreds still-separated children. When pressed on the ethics of the policy at the second, and final, presidential debate on Oct. 22, President Trump pinned the blame on the Obama administration, saying: “They built the cages.” While it’s true that the cages were built in 2014 under former President Barack Obama’s tenure, they were being used to accommodate an exodus of unaccompanied immigrant children arriving from Central America, not for child separation. Joe Biden has promised that if he wins the election, he will sign an executive order on day one to create a task force that will help reunite migrant families.
Further Reading
“The Trump Administration’s Family Separation Policy: Trauma, Destruction And Chaos” (Judiciary Committee Report)
“Biden Promises Executive Order To Help Reunite Migrant Families Separated By Trump Administration” (Forbes)
“Immigration fact check: ‘Who built the cages?’” (Los Angeles Times)
