Biden offers legal status to migrant families separated under Trump

In a major relief for migrant families in the United States, the Joe Biden administration has agreed to offer temporary legal status and other benefits to migrants.

Joe Biden, the president of the United States, will offer migrant families temporary legal status, who were separated at the US-Mexico border during the tenure of former President Donald Trump.

According to a settlement agreement filed on Monday, the United States has also barred separations between migrant children and migrant families in the future.

Biden offers legal status to migrant families

The legal settlement is part of an ongoing effort by the U.S. President Biden’s administration to reunite migrant parents with migrant children separated under Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy. Under the policy, various migrant children were separated from their migrant parents. The zero tolerance policy was instituted in 2018 and it called for the prosecution of all unauthorized border crossers.

Biden pledged to reunite migrant families and praised collaborations with advocacy organizations “in condemning the cruelty of the past.” Biden condemned Trump’s  “zero tolerance” policy. 

What can migrant families expect?

The legal settlement has provided relief to migrant families. The migrant families can apply for temporary legal status for 3 years and a work permit across the United States. They can also make an asylum claim with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Under the agreement, the authorities will halt widespread separations between migrant parents and migrant children for eight years. The migrant families will have access to temporary housing support for 1 year. As part of the settlement, separated families will also receive health services and medical assistance.

Lee Gelernt, a lawyer at the national office of the American Civil Liberties Union in New York and the deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and director of the Project’s Access to the Court’s Program, called the legal settlement “a critical step forward to help the thousands of families.”

Recently, the US also reopened a facility to house unaccompanied migrant children. The Joe Biden administration will provide shelter and food to a group of unaccompanied migrant children. 

As of 12 October, HHS (Health of Human Services) was housing 10,960 unaccompanied migrants.