June 08, 2018

Wyden Introduces Bill to End Trump Administration’s Cruel Policy of Separating Families at the Border

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today joined 31 of his Senate colleagues in introducing legislation to keep immigrant families together by preventing the Department of Homeland Security from taking children from their parents at the border. 

“Children and their parents seeking asylum and safety in the United States should not have to live in fear that they will be forcibly separated once they reach the border,” Wyden said. “This bill will put an end to the Trump administration’s inhumane policy of separating families, which runs counter to American and humanitarian values and only succeeds in further traumatizing innocent children.”

The Keep Families Together Act was developed in consultation with child welfare experts to ensure the federal government is acting in the best interest of children. The bill is supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Kids In Need of Defense (KIND), Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), Children’s Law Center and the Young Center for Immigrant Rights.

Earlier this week, Wyden led 39 of his Senate colleagues in sending a letter to President Trump, urging him to reverse this new policy, stressing the need to prioritize  widely accepted standards of care that prioritize keeping children and families together whenever possible.

Additional cosponsors of the bill include Senators Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Patty Murray, D-Wash., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Ed Markey, D-Mass., Jack Reed, D-R.I., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Tom Carper, D-Del., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Elizabeth Warren, D-N.J., Bob Menendez, D-N.J., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Angus King, I-Maine, Catherine Cortez-Masto, D-Nev., Bill Nelson, D-Fla., Bob Casey, D-Pa., Mark Warner, D-Va., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Mark Udall, D-N.M., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.

 

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