WRC Welcomes News on Imminent Family Reunifications

According to a Department of Homeland Security press release, the Biden administration’s Interagency Task Force on the Reunification of Families (Task Force) is beginning to reunify families that were separated under the Trump administration. Four families are slated to be reunified in the United States later this week, with more families to be reunified in the next few months.

In response, Leah Chavla, senior policy advisor in the Women’s Refugee Commission’s (WRC’s) Migrant Rights and Justice program, said:

“Without question, this is a positive step, and we are thrilled that these four families will finally be reunified after years apart. However, we recognize that there are many, many more families that are still separated and suffering due to the actions of the previous administration.

“This is a welcome start, but it is just the start, and we urge the Biden administration and the Task Force to safely reunify all families that were cruelly separated in the United States if they so wish.

“We also urge the administration to provide these families with any services they may need, such as mental or medical health care, to help with their healing. We will continue to encourage the administration and the Task Force to provide the families with as much stability as possible, including other services and supports, such as assistance with housing and obtaining employment, among others, that will facilitate their transition into the United States and to beginning a new life here together.

“The separation these families experienced was unconscionable and cruel. We are relieved that soon, four of these families will be reunited after time they never should have been forced to spend apart. We continue to stand ready to work with the administration to ensure that the many families still waiting will – we hope – soon be reunified and to ensure that the administration makes the needed systemic changes so that this can never happen again.”

In addition to serving as a senior policy advisor at WRC, Chavla is a member of the court-recognized Steering Committee supporting the American Civil Liberties Union’s class action lawsuit against family separations, Ms. L v. ICE, tasked with helping to locate separated parents.

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