U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on May 7 announced that the Trump administration would adopt a “zero tolerance” policy toward anyone caught by Border Patrol crossing into country. All migrants would be referred to the Department of Justice and prosecuted for the misdemeanor of illegal entry into the United States.
What You Need To Know:
- According to federal officials, over 2,300 children have been separated from their parents since early May and sent to government custody or foster care.
- Workers in the facilities housing children share the stories of children crying themselves to sleep because they don’t know where their parents are. A Honduran man killed himself in May in his detention cell after his child was taken from him.
- On June 20, President Trump signed an executive order directing the administration to keep children with their parents in detention while their cases work their way through the court system.
- Customs and Border Protection acknowledged June 25th that the government is abandoning the administration’s zero-tolerance policy for migrants crossing the border illegally.
- The Department of Homeland Security states it has reunited 522 children with their parents, but more than 2,000 kids are still in their care in detention centers across the country.
- While legislators have developed different ideas to end the crisis, advocates have called for a day of nationwide protests on June 30.
- 17 states and the District of Columbia have sued President Trump to force the administration to reunite migrant families separated by the administration’s zero-tolerance policy.
Live coverage of the immigration crisis occurs below, with updates ongoing.
https://twitter.com/TPFNewsDesk/status/1011821281157767169
https://twitter.com/TPFNewsDesk/status/1011821123137306625
Nazario sat in a private prison in San Diego, weeping. His 5-year-old daughter had been taken away by U.S. border agents. Now he had no idea where she was, whether she was all right, and when he would see her again. https://t.co/6m1kUj4VGe via @CalReportTweets @tychehendricks pic.twitter.com/TeUqZ2zTRJ
— Rachael Myrow (@rachaelmyrow) June 26, 2018
BREAKING: US Dept. of Health & Human Services (HHS) officials refuse to answer when asked if the agency is still receiving migrant children who were separated from their parents, but 2,047 separated children are still in their custody – @jacobsoboroff
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) June 26, 2018
Trump administration warns court action could slow family reunificationhttps://t.co/XRJ8RbpL7Q
— POLITICO (@politico) June 26, 2018