The Department of Justice will decide the amount of compensation given to families of illegal immigrants separated at the US-Mexico border, raising new concerns over transparency regarding massive payments to undocumented workers.
“If the DOJ determines that it saves the taxpayers money and it rights a wrong, then they will make the determination that is necessary and I would assume if they make a determination, they’ll come up with what they think is an adequate dollar amount,” said a senior White House advisor.
“But again, the question is, we took children. President Trump took children from their parents, and some children have never been returned. Do we think that’s OK?” he asked.
“I mean, at some point, we cannot with a straight face say that parents are willing to separate from a child for a dollar amount. That’s just not true,” concluded the top aide. “And we should not talk like that.”
White House says DOJ will determine amount of payouts to migrant families https://t.co/2d5KgGRUN6 pic.twitter.com/praXaefTpJ
— New York Post (@nypost) November 7, 2021
President Biden directly defended the payouts over the weekend.
“If in fact, because of the outrageous behavior of the last administration, you were coming across the border, whether it was legal or illegal, and you lost your child — you lost your child — it’s gone — you deserve some kind of compensation, no matter what the circumstance,” the president told reporters at a news conference on the House passing his $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan.
“What that will be, I have no idea. I have no idea,” he added.
Read the full report at the New York Post.
