The Biden administration’s reported plan to pay $450,000 per person to illegal immigrants separated during the Trump administration may exceed payments made to certain families of 9/11 victims and Gold Star families.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services are considering payments of $450,000 to those who illegally crossed the border and were separated from family members. It is in response to a lawsuit filed by civil rights organizations. The payments might therefore total up to $1 million per family and $1 billion overall, while the Journal reported that many families would receive smaller payments.
The report, which Fox News has not verified, provoked immediate outrage among Republicans and former Trump administration officials who were concerned about the possibility of using taxpayers’ money to convert illegal immigrants into millionaires.
Critics immediately pointed out that it would be well accepted by the families of those who lost loved ones while serving in the military. The death gratuity is a single $100,000 tax-free payment. There is also a life insurance policy, the Servicemember Group Life Insurance (SGLI), although it has a limit of $400,000 and requires service members to pay into it.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, made a contrast between the payments and those granted to families who have lost loved ones while serving in the military.
“Biden wants to pay illegal immigrants $450,000 for their hardship while breaking our laws,” Crenshaw, R-Texas, a Navy SEAL veteran, tweeted. “For perspective, if a service member is killed in action, their next of kin get an insurance payment of $400,000. Let that sink in.”
On Friday, dozens of Republicans wrote to the heads of several agencies, making a similar point.
“The idea that we would give illegal foreigners who broke the law a check that exceeds the amount that our government supplies to our valiant and heroic Gold Star Families are shameful, reprehensible, and morally indignant,” they wrote.
“Separately, comparisons have been drawn to the payouts for 9/11 victims. The Journal reported that a DHS attorney complained that the payouts could amount to more than what some families of 9/11 victims received — which funded averaged awards of around $2 million, but some significantly lower. However, other officials reportedly pushed back on the comparison, saying the U.S. government was not responsible for 9/11.
As the fund stands now under current law, while there is no overall cap on total benefits that can be paid, there is a cap for non-economic loss as a result of cancer at $250,000 and non-economic loss not resulting from cancer at $90,000. For cases where a 9/11-related health condition causes death, the presumed award provided in the fund’s regulations for non-economic loss is $250,000 plus an additional $100,000 for the person’s spouse and each dependent.”
The news, according to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, is “another way President Biden is putting America last.”
“Lawyers in his own administration admit payouts to illegal immigrants could be more than the families of the fallen from 9/11 received,” he said. “Disgraceful.”
Meanwhile, advocates for 9/11 victims and their families said in a statement that the news came as a “shock” because they are working to persuade Congress and the administration to support payments for those who they claim were unfairly refused compensation.
“This is an outrage given the current situation the 9/11 dependent spouses and children find themselves in as we try to persuade Congress, DOJ, and the Biden Administration to fund our Lump Sum Catch Up Payment,” the group “September 11 Advocates,” said in a statement.
“The 9/11 Families suffered the ultimate separation that was not temporary, in nature. Moreover, the 9/11 Families are American citizens who were innocent civilians merely showing up to work on the morning of September 11th. “
