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Auditor says DHS knew âzero-toleranceâ would split families at border An immigrant family turns itself in to Border Patrol after crossing the Rio Grande in 2019 to enter the U.S. illegally. A short-lived Trump administration zero tolerance policy in 2018 separated more than 3,000 immigrant children from their parents after they crossed illegally - and some families have yet to be reunited. (Source: U.S. Customs and Border Protection) By Ryan Knappenberger | February 8, 2021 at 12:10 PM MST - Updated February 8 at 12:10 PM
WASHINGTON â Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions knew the Trump administrationâs âzero-toleranceâ immigration policy would separate families at the border but moved ahead with it anyway, a Justice Department official told lawmakers this week.
January 15, 2021 at 2:38 PM
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(Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty)
“We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period,” former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen tweeted indignantly on June 17, 2018. Which was true, but only in the most literal sense. What DHS and the Justice Department
did have was a policy to arrest virtually everyone who tried to enter the country between border stations, automatically rendering any children apprehended “unaccompanied” and forcing them into state custody.
“I have put in place a ‘zero tolerance’ policy for illegal entry on our Southwest border. If you cross this border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you. It’s that simple,” then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on May 7, 2018. “If you smuggle illegal aliens across our border, then we will prosecute you. If you are smuggling a child, then we will prosecute you and that child will be separated from you as required by law.”
Sandy Huffaker / Getty Images
Originally published on January 15, 2021 8:20 am
Former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions knew his zero tolerance policy on illegal entry along the Southwest border in 2018 would separate children from their parents, a watchdog office reported on Thursday. Despite warnings that the government couldn t care for the children, he pushed forward with the policy. As a result, more than 3,000 children were separated from their families.
Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a critical review which found the department failed to effectively prepare for and manage the policy s implementation.
Trump administration officials significantly underestimated [the policy s] complexities and demonstrated a deficient understanding of the legal requirements related to the care and custody of separated children.