President Biden has promised a task force to work on reuniting migrant families separated years ago under a zero tolerance federal policy. But the government Biden just took over still faces legal action, including a new lawsuit filed in Arizona, for having separated those families.

Court documents detail a two-month separation of an asylum-seeking Guatemalan father and son after they crossed into Arizona in 2018. Federal authorities reportedly forced the pair to part ways in Ajo. The son went to a shelter in Mesa. The father moved between detention facilities in Florence, Georgia and Texas.   

“These families are traumatized. And even after being reunited, they continue to suffer,” said Gillian Gillers, senior staff attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Gillers called Biden’s campaign comments condemning family separations heartening. But reunification is only the first step. The president should make fair offers to settle lawsuits, she said, and start a victim compensation fund.