Expert: Biden Defense of Trump Family Separation Cases "Ironic"

Rafael Carranza, Chris Quintana, Joey Garrison, USA Today, June 26, 2023

"As one of his first actions in office, President Joe Biden followed through on a campaign promise when he vowed to end the “moral and national shame” of his predecessor’s immigration policies and halt the prosecution of parents for often minor immigration violations that were used to justify the separations. Yet today, the Department of Justice is actively defending those very policies in court. By doing so, it in effect is asking families to decide whether reliving their pain is worth a potential payout. Families and their attorneys say they shouldn’t have to make that choice. ... “It’s ironic that while candidate Biden said that family separation was abhorrent, as a president he’s allowing his Justice Department attorneys to fight these cases,” said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor of immigration law practice at Cornell University. But, he said, “every administration wants to preserve its flexibility and discretion on immigration, because immigration affects our sovereignty and foreign affairs.”  Monetary settlement talks have fizzled, although some of the attorneys for the families continue to hold out hope for an agreement."