March 01, 2021

CASTRO & BLUMENTHAL COMMEND BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION FOR COMMITMENT TO REUNITE SEPARATED FAMILIES HERE IN THE UNITED STATES, URGE CONGRESS TO TAKE LEGISLATIVE ACTION

WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro (TX-20) and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), authors of the Families Belong Together Act, issued the following joint statement after the Biden-Harris administration’s announcement to allow families separated by the Trump administration the option to reunite in the United States:

“We commend the Biden-Harris administration and the Interagency Task Force on the Reunification of Families led by Secretary Mayorkas for their around the clock efforts with humanitarian organizations to reunite families separated by the Trump administration and their commitment that reunifications should be able to occur on U.S. soil.

“It’s critical that separated families have the ability to safely reunite here in the United States to make amends for their unimaginable trauma. No parent should ever have to choose between family unity and their child’s safety. 

“The administration is doing its part. Now it’s up to Congress to pass our bicameral bill to provide the victims of the Trump Administration’s unconscionable ‘zero tolerance policy’ with permanent legal status. This legislative action is necessary to ensure that all separated families can be reunited here in the United States. Our laws must reflect our values: families belong together.”

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