Trump's separation of immigrant families has created a public health crisis

There's a new national health crisis, and it has nothing to do with a disease or disorder. It's family separation.

President Trump's policy of splitting migrant children from their parents at the border has drained $40 million from the Health and Human Services Department — even after the policy's June 20 reversal, Politico reports. Now, the department is preparing to spend $200 million more.

Housing the influx of separated children in temporary shelters costs nearly $800 per child per night. It cost the government roughly $1.5 million each day, at the height of the crisis, to house the more than 2,500 children in government custody, totaling at least $30 million over the past two months, two sources tell Politico. Then tack on another $10 million for case workers who will handle family reunification for the next few months, plus an undetermined amount to send emergency response teams and health workers to refugee facilities. And don't forget the cost of transporting children back to their families.

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These ever-expanding charges have HHS prepared to draw another $200 million originally allocated to other refugees and fighting HIV, Politico says. Sources suggest the unexpected spending could leave other initiatives, such as unemployment services, underfunded.

"We have a public health emergency like Ebola, Zika, hurricanes — except this one is man-made," Emily Holubowich, the executive director of the nonprofit Coalition for Health Funding, tells Politico. And with many children still split from their families, the emergency isn't over yet. Read more at Politico.