Schumer, Pelosi demand Trump begin reuniting separated families
Top congressional Democrats are demanding President Trump begin reuniting immigrant families who were separated under the administration’s “zero tolerance” policy.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) released a letter to Trump on Thursday saying they were “deeply dismayed” that the administration hadn’t started trying to reunite thousands of children separated from their families.
{mosads}”It seems that the administration lacks a plan, intention, and a sense of urgency to begin reuniting these children — many of whom have suffered serious emotional anguish — with their parents,” the two Democratic leaders wrote in their letter.
Schumer and Pelosi are demanding the administration present a plan “as soon as possible” to reunite children already separated.
In the immediate wake of the executive order The New York Times cited a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) official as saying that roughly 2,300 children already separated will not immediately be reunited with their family members, who will remain detained throughout their immigration proceedings.
“There will not be a grandfathering of existing cases,” Kenneth Wolfe, spokesman for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), part of HHS, told the Times.
“An ACF spokesperson misspoke earlier regarding the Executive Order signed today by the President. It is still very early and we are awaiting further guidance on the matter,” the department’s communications director, Brian Marriott, said in a statement.
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