When I originally saw the headline for this story I wondered if this was yet another element in the gigantic reconciliation bill that almost slipped through unnoticed. But it turns out that it doesn’t have anything to do with that bill or any other piece of legislation for that matter. And we’re not talking about an executive order, either. The focus of this story is a huge series of lawsuits being brought by the ACLU and a gaggle of private attorneys on behalf of illegal migrant families who had children separated from their parent(s) after crossing into the United States illegally. The State Department, along with HHS and Homeland Security, is reportedly in talks to settle these claims rather than fighting them in court. If a deal is struck, different families would receive varying amounts of money with the average payout being somewhere in the range of $450,000. The basis for the claims against the government is “lasting psychological trauma.” (Wall Street Journal)

The Biden administration is in talks to offer immigrant families that were separated during the Trump administration around $450,000 a person in compensation, according to people familiar with the matter, as several agencies work to resolve lawsuits filed on behalf of parents and children who say the government subjected them to lasting psychological trauma.

The U.S. Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services are considering payments that could amount to close to $1 million a family, though the final numbers could shift, the people familiar with the matter said. Most of the families that crossed the border illegally from Mexico to seek asylum in the U.S. included one parent and one child, the people said. Many families would likely get smaller payouts, depending on their circumstances, the people said…

The total potential payout could be $1 billion or more.

To say that this news has some people up in arms would be an understatement. The first thing to take note of here is that the huge raft of lawsuits mysteriously only involves families that were separated during the Trump administration. Doesn’t that immediately cast the entire process in a bit of a partisan light? Children are still being separated from parents (or in too many cases, coyotes and human traffickers posing as parents) on the southern border every day. And those separations were regularly taking place during the Obama/Biden administration, where the entire “kids in cages” story actually began. But oddly enough, the administration isn’t going to accept the blame for any of those, only admitting to alleged sins committed by the 45th President.

The ACLU claims to have identified roughly 5,500 children who were separated at the border. But not nearly all of those families are coming forward to take part in the lawsuits. It’s believed that slightly less than one thousand families have filed claims. The spin coming from the State Department this week suggests that they are worried they might lose some of these lawsuits and wind up paying even larger judgments.

The entire idea that families are demanding huge payouts due to “lasting psychological trauma” because they were entered into the court system after being apprehended for violating our immigration laws is outrageous. Do you know what other children are traumatized in that fashion? The children of felons who are convicted and sent to prison. But you don’t see them becoming instant millionaires thanks to Uncle Sam. The way you avoid having your family separated is by not breaking the law in the first place, whether you’re a bank robber, a gang banger, or an illegal alien.

The amounts of money being discussed are staggering when you consider what the potential recipients did to “earn” it. Dan Crenshaw put it in perspective yesterday.

Biden wants to pay illegal immigrants $450,000 for their hardship while breaking our laws.

For perspective, if a service member is killed in action, their next of kin gets an insurance payment of $400,000.

Let that sink in. https://t.co/J3kuhDhyD5

— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) October 28, 2021

It’s no wonder that the ACLU and a pack of attorneys saw an opportunity to cash in here. Shortly after taking office, Joe Biden talked about the incidents of family separation at the border as a “moral and national shame,” and “a historic moral stain on our nation.” He was basically pleading guilty before any charges had even been filed. And now he’s apparently willing to just fork over the money, as long as all of the blame is placed on the Bad Orange Man. He’s also doing it in spite of the horrible message it sends.

As Senator Tom Cotton pointed out yesterday, the Biden border crisis is already close to the worst we’ve seen in living memory. Much of that was driven by Biden’s comments and promises, indicating that the border was now open and people wouldn’t be turned away. Once word gets out that not only won’t you be sent home but that you might be in line for a half-million dollars or more if you bring your kids, what do you think is going to happen? Get ready for more caravans arriving at the border, complete with armies of children wearing “Biden, please let us in” t-shirts.