Justice ends talks on giving illegal migrants hundreds of thousands over separation rule

The Justice Department has ended talks on giving illegal immigrants huge sums of cash in connection with the Trump administration's policy of separating families at the U.S. border. 

News reports had circulated in late October that the government was planning to award illegal immigrant families up to $450,000 in compensation over the Trump administration's having frequently separated parents from children when they were apprehended at the U.S. southern border. 

Yet officials with the American Civil Liberties Union this week told media that the Justice Department had walked away from the talks without giving an explanation. 

In a statement to media following reports of the termination, the department said: "While the parties have been unable to reach a global settlement agreement at this time, we remain committed to engaging with the plaintiffs and to bringing justice to the victims of this abhorrent policy.”

The Trump administration was criticized for its separation of several thousand families that had illegally crossed the U.S. border during his presidency. That policy was scrapped shortly after Democrat President Joe Biden took office in January.