releases: https://price.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/appropriations-committee-passes-rep-price-amendment-track-families-separated
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| https://price.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/appropriations-committee-passes-rep-price-amendment-track-families-separated | Appropriations Committee Passes Rep. Price Amendment to Track Families Separated by Trump Administration | 2018-07-12 | 2018 | 2018-07 | Democrat | House | NC | David Price | P000523 | price.house.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 12, 2018) On Wednesday, July 11, 2018, the Appropriations Committee passed by voice vote an amendment by Reps. David Price (D-NC), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), and Katherine Clark (D-MA) that would drastically increase oversight and transparency of the status of families separated by President Trump's zero-tolerance policy. The amendment would require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to submit a monthly report on: (1) the number and ages of children separated from their families at or between ports of entry; (2) the length of each separation; (3) the status of any efforts undertaken by the Secretary to reunify these children with a parent or legal guardian; and (4) the number of any reunifications, and whether the reunified families were placed in family detention. Additionally, the amendment would require parents and children to be informed of each other's whereabouts within 24 hours of separation. Finally, it directs the Secretary of HHS to submit a comprehensive report within 60 days of the bill's enactment on their plans to reunify families, and their efforts to ensure families will remain in touch until reunification. Below is Congressman Price's prepared remarks upon introducing his amendment. Remarks as prepared. My amendment addresses an issue that has evoked alarm from Americans across the country and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle: the administration's zero tolerance policy which has resulted in the separation of nearly three thousand children from their parents at our nation's southern border. I say nearly three thousand because Congress does not know the exact number of children and families who were affected by this short-lived yet disastrous policy. On June 20th, following weeks of disinformation and evasion by the President and his administration, Donald Trump signed an executive order to end this practice, but has since provided scant details on his strategy to return these children to their parents. Additionally, the administration has yet to produce accurate counts of the number of children impacted by the separation policy. This can only mean one of two things: gross incompetence or deliberate dissembling. Lawmakers and the public must have access to this information to hold Trump and his administration accountable. We do know that yesterday, the Administration failed to meet a court-ordered deadline of reuniting 101 children under the age of 5 with their parentshow long will it take them to reunite the remaining 3,000 children? We also know that separation of these children from their parents will have residual, long-term effects on thousands of children. The American Academy of Pediatrics has stated that family separation can cause irreparable harm, disrupting a child's brain architecture and affecting his or her short- and long-term health. No matter your political affiliation or views on immigration policy, we should all agree that these children must be protected from the torment and trauma caused by separation from their parents, and lawmakers should do everything in our power to ensure they are reunited as soon as possible. That is what this amendment aims to do. My amendmentoffered alongside Mrs. Lowey, Mr. Cuellar, and Mrs. Clarkwould add report language to the bill to require HHS, in collaboration with DHS, to provide our Committee with a monthly public report on the number of children who have been separated from their families at the border, the number of children who have been referred to care at the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), and the number of children who have been released from ORR care. This report would include information on the age of the children; where, why, and for how long the separation occurred; and the length of the child's stay in ORR care. If the child was released from ORR care, the report must include information on who the child was released to. My amendment also directs HHS and DHS to ensure that parents and children are informed of each other's whereabouts within 24 hours of separation. Finally, my amendment would direct HHS and DHS to provide us with a report on efforts to increase and maintain contact between separated families and information on how they will facilitate the coordinated repatriation of the families when it is in the best interest of the child. President Trump's zero tolerance policy manufactured a crisis that has left us with a number of unknowns. This amendment would ensure that as the debate on immigration continues, our Committee, the Congress, and the public have adequate and accurate information about what's happening at our borders. I urge support for the amendment. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |