Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) cosponsored legislation to keep immigrant families together by preventing the Department of Homeland Security from taking children from their parents at the border. 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.
“This administration’s policy of separating children and parents at the border speaks of their inhumanity and does not reflect our values as a nation,” said Cortez Masto. “Most of these families are fleeing extreme violence and come here because their lives are threatened. I urge my colleagues to act now and support this legislation. Congress cannot stand idly by while an overwhelming number of children stay in crowded detention facilities and their parents are left in the dark as to their whereabouts and wellbeing.”
The bill is led by U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) and is cosponsored by Senators Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Bernie Sanders (D-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), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), 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.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.).
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.
Full text of the bill can be found HERE.
###