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U.S. NEWS Thursday 22 OcTOber 2020
Parents of 545 children separated at border can't be found

By ELLIOT SPAGAT Children from that period the country illegally from The American Civil Liber- gaged in time-consum-
Associated Press are difficult to find be- Mexico. The administra- ties Union, which sued ing and arduous on-the-
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Court- cause the government tion sparked an interna- over the practice, said a ground searches for par-
appointed lawyers said had inadequate tracking tional outcry when parents court-appointed steering ents in their respective
Tuesday that they have systems. Volunteers have couldn't find their children. committee located par- countries of origin," the
been unable to find par- searched for them and While those families were ents of 485 children, up 47 ACLU said in a court fil-
ents of 545 children who their parents by going reunited under court or- from August. That leaves ing. Those searches were
were separated at the U.S. door-to-door in Guatema- der, authorities later dis- 545 still unaccounted for suspended after the coro-
border with Mexico early la and Honduras. covered that up to 1,556 among the 1,030 children navirus outbreak but have
in the Trump administra- More than 2,700 children children were separated for whom the steering resumed in a limited way.
tion. were separated from their under the policy going committee had telephone The steering committee
The children were separat- parents in June 2018 when back to the summer of numbers from U.S. authori- has also promoted toll-free
ed between July 1, 2017, U.S. District Judge Dana 2017, including hundreds ties. About two-thirds of phone numbers in Spanish
and June 26, 2018, when Sabraw ordered an end during an initial run at fam- parents of those 545 chil- to reach families.
a federal judge in San Di- to the practice under a ily separation in El Paso, dren are believed to be The judge has scheduled
ego ordered that children "zero-tolerance" policy to Texas, from July to Novem- in their countries of origin, a hearing on Thursday to
in government custody be criminally prosecute ev- ber 2017 that was not pub- the ACLU said. discuss status of reunifica-
reunited with their parents. ery adult who entered licly disclosed at the time. Volunteers have "en- tion efforts.q

Judge slams DeVos for rejecting 94% of loan relief claims

By COLLIN BINKLEY a statement. "The Depart- for-profit colleges. position "at this time," but have lied about the suc-
AP Education Writer ment is following the pub- In a proposed settlement he suggested it may be cess of their graduates.
Months after vowing to pro- licly available process for in April, the Education De- necessary later. DeVos opposed the ex-
cess a backlog of 160,000 pansion, saying it made it
requests for loan forgive- too easy for students to get
ness from students who say their loans erased at the ex-
they were defrauded by pense of taxpayers.
their schools, the U.S. Edu- Alsup's decision was based
cation Department has re- on the department's latest
jected 94% of claims it has update on its work to clear
reviewed, according to a the backlog.
federal judge who is de- As of August, he wrote, the
manding justification for agency had denied 74,000
the "blistering pace" of de- claims linked to the law-
nials. suit while granting 4,400,
In a biting decision issued amounting to a 94% rejec-
Monday in California, U.S. tion rate.
District Judge William Alsup Rejections were delivered
said the department has through standardized let-
been denying claims using ters that included informa-
template letters that are tion on how to appeal the
"alarmingly curt." decision, but Alsup said the
Alsup threatened to sus- letters fail to explain the de-
pend the agency from cision. It leaves borrowers in
rejecting further requests, a "disturbingly Kafkaesque"
saying its approach "hangs situation, he wrote.
borrowers out to dry." U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speaks Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, at the Phoenix International Alsup said he is considering
He said that although Edu- Academy in Phoenix. whether to forbid the de-
cation Secretary Betsy De- Associated Press partment from issuing any
Vos blamed the backlog further rejections until the
on the hard work that goes case is decided. He has
into processing claims, she resolving claims as quickly partment agreed to pro- DeVos set out to overhaul asked both sides to sub-
has now "charged out of as possible, so those stu- cess the backlog of claims the loan forgiveness pro- mit arguments around the
the gate, issuing perfuncto- dents who are eligible and within 18 months. gram in 2017 and last year question.
ry denial notices utterly de- were harmed get the relief But Alsup scrapped the released new rules making Harvard Law School's Proj-
void of meaningful expla- they deserve." deal Monday, saying it was it more difficult for borrow- ect on Predatory Student
nation at a blistering pace." The dispute stems from a undermined by the recent ers to get loans erased. In Lending, which represents
The Education Department 2019 lawsuit brought by spate of rejections. Instead, the meantime, claims were borrowers in the suit, said
said it is studying the rul- 160,000 borrowers who say he called on the lawsuit to piling up. it looks forward to depos-
ing. Spokesperson Angela the Education Department proceed and he autho- When the lawsuit was filed, ing agency officials to get
Morabito said many claims illegally stalled their claims rized the deposition of up it had been a year since an explanation for their ac-
were submitted by borrow- for loan relief. to five department officials the department issued a fi- tions.
ers who attended ineligible The claims were filed to explain the denials. nal decision on any claim. "The class members in this
programs or who failed to through a program known "We need to know what is The program had been case have suffered harm at
make a valid claim for loan as borrower defense, which really going on," wrote Al- expanded by President every turn, but in this court
forgiveness. forgives federal student sup, who was appointed Barack Obama to erase order they are finally seeing
"Just because a claim was loans for borrowers who to the court by President Bill loans for students who at- a change in the tides after
filed does not make it valid are cheated by their col- Clinton. tended the Corinthian years of waiting for justice,"
and eligible for taxpayer- leges. It's most often used He said DeVos will not be Colleges chain and other said Eileen Connor, the
funded relief," she said in by students who attended required to appear for de- for-profit colleges found to group's legal director.q