- Biden was speaking at a press conference touting the passage of the $1.2trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill when he was asked about the payments
- Biden was forceful in saying he would try to get payments to those families, criticizing former President Donald Trump’s border policy.
- ‘You deserve some kind of compensation, no matter what the circumstance,’ he said of separated families. ‘What that will be, I have no idea’
- Last week it was revealed that officials from the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services are considering payments
- The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the separated families, has identified about 5,500 children separated from parents at the border
- The total potential payout could cost $1 billion or more
President Joe Biden vigorously defended a plan to send payments to families separated at the southern border Saturday, days after calling a report that the payments were as much as $450,000 ‘garbage.’
Biden was speaking at a press conference touting the passage of the $1.2trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill when he was asked about the payments.
Fox News‘ David Spunt asked: ‘You said last week, that this report about migrant families at the border getting payments was garbage.’
Biden interrupted: ‘No I didn’t say that, let’s get it straight, you said everybody coming across the border gets $450,000.’
Biden then was forceful in saying he would try to get payments to those families, criticizing former President Donald Trump’s border policy.
‘If in fact, because of the outrageous behavior of the last administration, you coming across the border – whether it was legal or illegal – and you lost your child, you lost your child, it’s gone, you deserve some kind of compensation, no matter what the circumstance,’ he said. ‘What that will be, I have no idea.’