Marilyn Miranda, 9, draped in a Salvadoran flag, attends an immigration rally with her mother outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington June 4, 2019. (CNS photo/Leah Millis, Reuters)
For years, the U.S. policy on the southern border has focused on security above all else. Under former President Trump, for example, the United States implemented a zero-tolerance policy that led to thousands of children being separated from their families. The administration also put into force the Migrant Protections Protocol, which empowered immigration officials to return thousands of asylum seekers to Mexico to await court decisions in the immigration court system. The administration touted extending the existing border wall.