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The administration of US President Joe Biden wants to reunite migrant families for the first time this week, who were separated on the Mexican border during the presidency of Donald Trump.
“Today is just the beginning.
We are bringing the first group of families back together, many more will follow and we know how important it is to give these families the stability and the resources they need to heal, ”said Homeland Security Minister Alejandro Mayorkas on Monday.
Mayorkas initially spoke of "four mothers who will hug their children again after so many years". "They are mothers who fled extremely dangerous situations in their home countries and who stayed in a dangerous environment in Mexico," the Cuban minister wrote on Twitter. Some of the children were only three years old at the time of the separation. The parents should be allowed to return to the USA for humanitarian reasons.
The minister did not explain how the families were selected, reported the NPR radio station, citing a background discussion by Mayorkas with journalists on Sunday.
The head of the Biden working group to reunite families, Michelle Brané, said more than 1,000 families are still separated.
The incomplete record by the Trump administration makes it difficult to give an exact number.
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For reunited families, the Ministry of Homeland Security also wants to examine options for “long-term legal stability” and draw up recommendations to prevent “unnecessary and cruel separations” in the future.
Turn away from Trump's “zero tolerance” policy
From July 1, 2017 to mid-2018, more than 5,000 children were separated from their parents upon entry, many due to the Trump administration's “zero tolerance” policy that every adult who illegally entered enters the United States. While the minors were being moved to separate accommodation, their parents were arrested and in many cases were deported. The practice of separating parents and children had caused an outcry internationally. In 2018, a court found the proceedings to be inhuman and unconstitutional and ordered mergers. Trump eventually ended the practice, but children were subsequently imprisoned with their parents.
Immediately after taking office in January, Biden initiated a departure from the tough course of his predecessor and announced a more humane migration policy.
However, the situation on the border with Mexico has recently worsened: The number of arriving migrants, especially from Central America, has risen significantly; in March, more people were arrested at the border than in 15 years.
The US authorities are overwhelmed with the accommodation of children and young people.
The opposition Republicans accuse Biden of encouraging residents of poorer countries to make their way to the US and let migrants into the country unchecked.
An April survey in the US also showed that only 37 percent of respondents support Biden's previous approach to migration on the southern border with Mexico.