"Trump's cruel zero-tolerance policy of ripping families apart intentionally inflicted irreparable trauma on immigrant parents, children, and communities," Ramirez said in a statement Wednesday. "It's a practice we will never—and should never—forget or repeat."
"While we can never fully right those wrongs, the Family Reunification Task Force Act is a critical means to address the harm inflicted on the families separated at our border," she added. "Our legislation aims to urgently reunite families, and to affirm that families should never be separated by our government at our borders."
Democratic President Joe Biden created the
Family Reunification Task Force via a 2021 executive order that immigrant advocates fear will be rescinded after Trump takes office next month. Thousands of migrant children were separated from their families during Trump's first term. According to a ProPublica report published last week, the Biden administration has also separated hundreds of migrant children from their parents or legal guardians.
Trump has vowed to begin mass deportations on his first day in office. He is also seeking to end birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed under the 14th Amendment, and has suggested that instead of separating families in which children are U.S. citizens, he would deport them along with their undocumented parents.
"The first Trump administration's family separation policy was a catastrophic failing, and still, six years later, hundreds of children remain apart from their parents," Blumenthal said Wednesday. "The Family Reunification Task Force has done important work to identify and reunite families traumatized by this cruel policy and that work is not yet done. This bill is a necessary step to continue to right the wrongs of family separation, no matter who is in office."
Dozens of advocacy groups are supporting the legislation.
"My family and I thank the members of Congress who support the Family Reunification Task Force so that children that are still separated from their families can be reunited at last," said Kseniia M. of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, one of the groups backing the bill.
"The months we were separated from our then 3-year-old daughter were incredibly painful, and as a family, we will live with the repercussions of that separation for the rest of our lives," she added. "We urge the U.S. government to continue to prioritize reunification and justice for all families affected by family separation policies."
Sarah Mehta, senior border policy counsel at the ACLU, said, "The family separation policy was one of the darkest chapters of the previous Trump administration, with babies and toddlers taken from their parents' arms, and thousands of families ripped apart."
"For too many families still awaiting reunification, this disastrous nightmare continues," Mehta added. "We need legislation like the Family Reunification Task Force Act so that these children are not forgotten and can finally return to their loved ones."
"Trump's cruel zero-tolerance policy of ripping families apart intentionally inflicted irreparable trauma on immigrant parents, children, and communities," Ramirez said in a statement Wednesday. "It's a practice we will never—and should never—forget or repeat."
"While we can never fully right those wrongs, the Family Reunification Task Force Act is a critical means to address the harm inflicted on the families separated at our border," she added. "Our legislation aims to urgently reunite families, and to affirm that families should never be separated by our government at our borders."
Democratic President Joe Biden created the
Family Reunification Task Force via a 2021 executive order that immigrant advocates fear will be rescinded after Trump takes office next month. Thousands of migrant children were separated from their families during Trump's first term. According to a ProPublica report published last week, the Biden administration has also separated hundreds of migrant children from their parents or legal guardians.
Trump has vowed to begin mass deportations on his first day in office. He is also seeking to end birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed under the 14th Amendment, and has suggested that instead of separating families in which children are U.S. citizens, he would deport them along with their undocumented parents.
"The first Trump administration's family separation policy was a catastrophic failing, and still, six years later, hundreds of children remain apart from their parents," Blumenthal said Wednesday. "The Family Reunification Task Force has done important work to identify and reunite families traumatized by this cruel policy and that work is not yet done. This bill is a necessary step to continue to right the wrongs of family separation, no matter who is in office."
Dozens of advocacy groups are supporting the legislation.
"My family and I thank the members of Congress who support the Family Reunification Task Force so that children that are still separated from their families can be reunited at last," said Kseniia M. of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, one of the groups backing the bill.
"The months we were separated from our then 3-year-old daughter were incredibly painful, and as a family, we will live with the repercussions of that separation for the rest of our lives," she added. "We urge the U.S. government to continue to prioritize reunification and justice for all families affected by family separation policies."
Sarah Mehta, senior border policy counsel at the ACLU, said, "The family separation policy was one of the darkest chapters of the previous Trump administration, with babies and toddlers taken from their parents' arms, and thousands of families ripped apart."
"For too many families still awaiting reunification, this disastrous nightmare continues," Mehta added. "We need legislation like the Family Reunification Task Force Act so that these children are not forgotten and can finally return to their loved ones."