US First Lady Jill Biden to reunite immigrant families separated during Trump’s era

US First Lady Jill Biden on January 29 said that her chief of staff will appoint a task force to reunite separated immigrant kids to their families. Speaking to the press, the spokesperson for the wife of the President of the United States said that the chief will also be responsible to monitor the Biden administration's effort in searching for the lost children that were snatched from their parents at the US-Mexico border under former President Donald Trump’s ghastly border and immigration policies.

According to the statement given to CNN by at least three sources familiar with the development, Jill’s East Wing will be assigned with the immigrant family reunification mission. The first lady will lead efforts in the forefront to unite back families torn apart under Trump’s zero-tolerance and child separation enforcement policies to curb illegal and undocumented entry into the United States. 

Biden spokesman Michael LaRosa told CNN on Wednesday, that the first lady said earlier this week, in presence of her chief of staff, Ambassador Julissa Reynoso, that she will monitor the federal reunification effort for Biden administration given her background as a lawyer. LaRosa confirmed the East Wing's involvement in the mission, adding that the first lady was moved by the plight of the separated families during her refugee camp visit across the border from Brownsville, Texas. "We are a welcoming nation, but that's not the message that we're sending at the border," Dr. Jill Biden had said in the media at the time.

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“President Joe Biden plans to announce on Tuesday his launch of a task force on reunifying families and children. Something that he is personally committed to, his wife Dr. Biden is personally committed to and invested in," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said at the press conference.

2,700 children separated

Psaki, at the presser, said that the family reunification task force will be headed by command of Alejandro Mayorkas, due to be confirmed by the Senate as head of the Department for Homeland Security on Monday. Department of Homeland Security, Department of Health and Human Services, and the State Department will also co-jointly operate the mission in reuniting the snatched kids at the borders to their parents or guardians, according to LaRosa’s televised statement to CNN. As per an estimate by American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU),  more than 2,700 children were separated at the border during the Trump government from their parents and were kept in detention centers. Many parents were, in fact, deported back into their countries, having left their children behind locked up. This led to a huge outcry, including in Trump’s own Republican party. A judge later ruled that the families must be reunited. 

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