Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senators Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) in introducing the Keep Families Together Act, legislation that would prioritize family unity in immigration enforcement and provide guidelines to ensure that families are kept together throughout the legal process. To this day, 2,000 migrant children remain separated from their parents as a result of the Trump administration’s 2018 family separation policy.
“Separating children from their parents is inhumane and goes against everything we stand for as a country,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “The Trump administration’s family separation policy is a moral stain in our nation’s history that can never happen again.”
The Keep Families Together Act also explicitly prohibits the separation of children from their parents at the U.S. border, except in extraordinary circumstances. Specifically, the legislation would:
- Mandate that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) create policies enabling parents and children to locate and reunite with each other if they have been separated. These procedures must be publicly accessible and available in an accessible language. In cases of separation, DHS is required to provide parents with a monthly report containing information about their child.
- Mandate that DHS consult with immigrant advocacy organizations, child welfare organizations, and state child welfare agencies when developing procedures.
- Require an annual report to Congress describing each instance in which a child was separated from a parent or legal guardian.
Full text of the bill is available HERE.
The first and only Latina Senator, Senator Cortez Masto has consistently pushed to fix our broken immigration system by balancing critical border security measures with a path to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, and essential workers. She’s introduced legislation to fix our outdated immigration laws. She’s led calls to address delays in DACA renewal applications and make it easier for mixed status families to stay together.
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