Settlement bars separation of migrant families at US border, Trump-era policy scrapped for 8 yrs

A US federal judge in San Diego has officially approved a settlement and bars US officials from separating migrant families at the US borders.This comes months after the Biden administration on October 16 this year reached a settlement with migrant families who had been separated at the US-Mexico border during former President Donald Trump's tenure in office.

The settlement is now set to take effect from December 11, media reports said. The agreement does not give monetary compensation but provides support for those affected to apply for humanitarian protection, work permits, and housing assistance in the US. Families will also have access to mental health resources, as per reports.

With the settlement, the policy will not be able to revive for the next eight years. However, there are exceptions. For instance, cases when a parent is posing some sort of risk to their children.

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The legal battle originated in 2018 when the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which advocates for the rights of immigrants,filed a lawsuit to challenge the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy. The policy is infamous for notoriously separating undocumented parents from their children upon crossing into the United States.

The policy led to the separation of over 5,000 families, causing widespread public outcry. Images of children held alone in detention facilities, some as young as 6 months old, fueled the controversy.

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Children separated from families

Although the Trump administration halted the policy,ACLU asserts that approximately a thousand children still remain separated.

Lee Gelernt, the ACLU's lead counsel, criticised the Trump administration's record-keeping, stating that "it appears that the Trump administration tracked property more diligently than they tracked the whereabouts of little children."

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in the Biden administration told NPR in an interview that the current administration, unlike its predecessor, does not have plans to separate families. He underscored the importance of adhering to the country's "fundamental values" and vowed to "not deviate from that".

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Trump refrains to rule-out policy's reimplementation

Former President Donald Trump, who had previously advocated for the policy as an effective combat to contain immigration, has indicated that he would not rule out reinstating it if re-elected.

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(With inputs from agencies)