The former American president had decided during his visit to the White House to separate the families of migrants who entered the United States illegally, as a means of deterrence.
Nearly a thousand migrant children, separated from their parents under the mandate of former US President Donald Trump, have still not been reunited with them, the government of his Democratic successor said on Thursday.
Anxious to correct what he considered a “national disgrace”, Joe Biden had set up upon his arrival at the White House a cell dedicated to identifying and locating the families of migrants separated under the mandate of his Republican predecessor.
“To date, the task force has identified 3,924 children separated” from their families between 2017 and 2021, of which 998 have still not been reunited with their parents, announced the Department of Homeland Security after two years of work.
“We understand that this essential work is not finished”
Among them, 148 are “in the process” of joining them and “183 families have been informed of the possibility of being reunited”, he added in a press release.
“We understand that this essential work is not finished”, commented the Minister of Internal Security Alejandro Mayorkas. “The task force continues to try to contact the separated families in order to offer them the possibility of reuniting in the United States,” he added.
The administration of Donald Trump, who had made the fight against illegal immigration a marker of his presidency, had raised in 2017 the idea of separating the families of migrants who entered the United States illegally, as a means of deterrence.
Its so-called “Zero Tolerance” policy was officially launched in April 2018. It consisted of opening criminal proceedings against anyone who entered illegally at the border with Mexico. Consequence: the parents could be immediately placed in detention without their children.
