Trump Officials to Face Senate Scrutiny Over Family Separations

The Trump administration will face tough questions Tuesday at the first public hearing probing the the president’s "zero tolerance" policy that led to the separation of thousands of migrant children from their parents.

Officials from the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services are set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where members from both parties are expected to be harshly critical of the separations. Trump ended the policy in June amid the public outcry over the practice.

As of July 26 -- the deadline set by U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw -- the administration said it had reunited more than 1,400 children with their parents, while an additional 700 children remained in government custody. The administration has boasted about putting families back together within just a few weeks, but Democrats and immigration advocates argue that the government is simply righting its own wrong.

Senators from both parties have said there’s a need to increase the number of immigration law judges and legal representatives to speed up the cases. But there’s no consensus on whether to change the rules that currently limit the amount of time children can spend in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody to 20 days.

Senate Republicans are pushing for legislation to supersede the most recent interpretation of the Flores consent decree, a court agreement that mandates standards of care for immigrant minors in government custody. The Trump administration argues its only options to abide by Flores are to separate parents and children and move children to HHS custody, or to release intact families, something the administration dismisses as "catch and release."

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa and two committee members, Ted Cruz of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, are among those pushing a bill to supersede Flores, that would "in a humane and fair way" allow for families to be kept in custody together for weeks or months, they wrote in a Sunday op-ed in USA Today.

"It is clear that a legislative fix to the Flores consent decree is the only viable solution," they said. "Such a fix will allow families to stay together and will ensure no future administration has to make the Hobson’s choice created by the Flores consent decree if another surge in illegal migration of family units occurs."

Ahead of the hearing, Grassley and the top Democrat on the committee, Dianne Feinstein of California, wrote to the administration asking for an investigation into allegations of sexual, physical and emotional abuse at HHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, citing reported incidents involving adult and child victims.

Democrats have demanded a thorough accounting of the separation and reunification processes, and have asked the inspectors general of all three relevant agencies to conduct investigations.

Senators Patty Murray of Washington, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Feinstein wrote to HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Monday voicing “significant concerns” about the “validity” of the data that the administration has provided about family separations and reunifications, and asked for a detailed explanation of how the administration had determined that certain families weren’t eligible for reunification.

Citing "the ongoing failure of the administration to provide timely and accurate information," the lawmakers asked for written explanations by Wednesday and a staff briefing by Friday.

Democrats have called the situation a "humanitarian crisis," as Feinstein and 30 other Senate Democrats did in a letter to the Justice Department last week. Another member of the panel, Kamala Harris, a California Democrat, said last month that the administration had committed "crimes against humanity."

Sabraw on Monday ordered the Trump administration and the plaintiff -- the American Civil Liberties Union -- to submit plans for reuniting children with parents who have been deported or who have been released from government custody and not yet located. He is also weighing whether to extend a stay on the deportation of reunified families.

Those scheduled to testify Tuesday include Commander Jonathan White, who has led HHS’s family reunification efforts; Matthew Albence, executive associate director of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations; and James McHenry, director of the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review.