Biden administration considering giving $450,000 per person to immigrants separated at the border

The Biden administration could pay out up to $1 billion to immigrant families that were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border during the Trump administration. 

According to The Wall Street Journal, the departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services could end up paying out close to $1 million per immigrant family that was separated at the border. Sources told the Journal that around $450,000 a person is being considered, but that figure could change depending on each family’s circumstances. 

Discussions of payouts have taken place over the course of the past few months between lawyers representing immigrant families that are suing the federal government and the government’s own lawyers, according to the Journal. Some government lawyers apparently viewed the payout amounts as excessive.

Margo Schlanger, a Homeland Security officer for civil rights and civil liberties during the Obama administration, told the Journal, “Damage class actions in this kind of case are pretty rare, it’s hard to think of a recent comparison.”