Feinstein: Trump Administration Must Be Held Accountable for Family Separation

Washington—Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today issued the following statement on the Health and Human Services inspector general report on family separation:

“Today’s HHS IG report concludes that the full scale of horrors caused by the Trump administration’s family separation policy are far greater than previously known.

“The report states that ‘thousands of children may have been separated’ from their parents by the Department of Homeland Security before a district court in California required the government to account for each child. Six months after the court order, the Trump administration continues to discover more children who were separated.

“The report highlights that children were separated from their parents as early as the summer of 2017, far earlier than previously known. Additionally, the IG report makes clear that there was an explicit policy of separating families, one that started far earlier and separated far more children than previously known. The Trump administration’s repeated statements that there was no policy of separating families were false.

“The report also confirms that the Trump administration has never created a database to identify and track children separated from their parents. The Trump administration’s statements indicating that there was a database were also false. Consistently misleading the public about the administration’s actions is unacceptable.

“However, what’s infinitely worse is that some families may never be reunited. These barbaric policies must stop now. And all efforts must be focused on fixing this situation and reuniting children with their parents.

“The family separation crisis has been a stain on this country and must be remedied immediately. President Trump and Secretary Nielsen must be held accountable for the unspeakable trauma they have inflicted on innocent children.”

###