The U.S. Department of Homeland Security wants input from the public on how to prevent families from being separated at the U.S. border, a news release said.
“It is unconscionable to separate children from their parents as a means to deter migration,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
Public comment will be accepted through Jan. 10.
"Individuals may submit comments by following the instructions in the Federal Register notice," the agency said. "Public feedback will be used to help develop recommendations to President Joe Biden on how to prevent the federal government from implementing in the future the cruel and inhumane practice of intentionally separating families at the border as a tool of deterrence."
In February, Biden issued an executive order creating the Interagency Task Force on the Reunification of Families, the news release said.
"The task force, in coordination with non-governmental organizations and interagency partners, has established a process to identify families separated under the prior administration’s Zero-Tolerance policy—pursuant to which families were intentionally separated—and reunify them in the United States," the news release said. "Families reunified in the United States, or those seeking to enter the United States for the purposes of reunification, are eligible for humanitarian parole and to receive support services."
The Task Force is led by Mayorkas and includes representatives from Departments of State, Health and Human Services and Justice, the news release said.
