President Biden on Wednesday denied that his administration is considering paying $450,000 per person to migrant families who were separated at the border under the Trump administration, calling the reports “garbage.”
When asked if the payments would cause an influx at the border, Mr. Biden bristled, insisting the reports were untrue.
“If you guys keep sending that garbage out, but it’s not true,” he said.
Pressed further about the payments, Mr. Biden responded, “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services are weighing payments as the administration works to resolve lawsuits claiming the government subjected parents and children to psychological trauma.
Citing sources familiar with the talks, the Journal said most of the families who crossed the border would receive payments, with some families receiving smaller payouts depending upon their circumstances.
Talks about issuing the payments have been going on for months, the Journal reported.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing multiple families in the lawsuit over the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy, last week urged the Biden administration to act quickly on the matter.
In a statement, the ACLU said families subject to separation deserved “resources, care and a commitment that family separations will never happen again.”
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