The White House appeared to walk President Joe Biden’s Wednesday denial of reports that his administration was in talks to offer immigrant families separated under the Trump administration $450,000 per person as compensation.
But White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre added some major qualifiers to Biden’s statement during a press briefing on Thursday, saying payments could in fact happen, just not in the mid-six-figure amounts originally reported by the Wall Street Journal.
“The president, what he was reacting to was the dollar figure that you mentioned to him yesterday,” Jean-Pierre said. “As press accounts today indicate, the Department of Justice made clear to the plaintiffs that the reported figures are higher than anywhere that a settlement can land.”
FLURRY OF LAWSUITS TO GREET BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S VACCINE MANDATE
“That’s not going to happen,” Biden told reporters on Wednesday following remarks at the White House.
Groups have filed lawsuits on behalf of parents and children who charge that the U.S. government has burdened them with lasting psychological trauma.
Biden had conceded that reports of such payments could spur further immigration, but called the allegation of $450,000 payments “garbage.”
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In defending the fact that payments could in fact be made to immigrant families separated under Trump administration policies, Jean-Pierre pointed to their brutality and said Biden is “perfectly comfortable” with potentially making lower payments.
“If it saves taxpayer dollars and puts the disastrous history of the previous administration’s use of zero-tolerance and family separation behind us, the president is perfectly comfortable with the Department of Justice settling with the individuals and families who are currently in litigating with the U.S. government,” she said.
