Trump Confirms Consideration Of New Family-Separation Effort At The Border
- 6 years ago
President Trump on Saturday seemed to confirm his administration is considering new family-separation effort at the border.
President Trump has confirmed that his administration is reviewing the option of reinstating family separations at the U.S. border with Mexico.
The president was asked about the issue during an exchange with reporters Saturday, and he said, "We're looking at everything...that you could look at when it comes to illegal immigration."
Trump also said of people considering crossing the border: "If they feel there will be separation, they won't come."
The line of questioning was prompted by a Washington Post report from Friday which says, in part, "Senior administration officials say they are not planning to revive the chaotic forced separations...that spawned an enormous political backlash and led to a court order to reunite families. But they feel compelled to do something."
"One option under consideration is for the government to detain asylum-seeking families together for up to 20 days, then give parents a choice — stay in family detention with their child for months or years as their immigration case proceeds, or allow children to be taken to a government shelter so other relatives or guardians can seek custody," the Post added.
An unnamed Department of Homeland Security official told Politico about the idea: "I don't know how much this is going to lead to additional family separation or how much this is going to lead to prolonged detention of these families. I think the White House believes both of those are good things, because both of those would have a deterrent effect."
According to the DHS, there was a 38 percent rise in the number of people taken into custody for illegally crossing the U.S. border during the month of August.
President Trump has confirmed that his administration is reviewing the option of reinstating family separations at the U.S. border with Mexico.
The president was asked about the issue during an exchange with reporters Saturday, and he said, "We're looking at everything...that you could look at when it comes to illegal immigration."
Trump also said of people considering crossing the border: "If they feel there will be separation, they won't come."
The line of questioning was prompted by a Washington Post report from Friday which says, in part, "Senior administration officials say they are not planning to revive the chaotic forced separations...that spawned an enormous political backlash and led to a court order to reunite families. But they feel compelled to do something."
"One option under consideration is for the government to detain asylum-seeking families together for up to 20 days, then give parents a choice — stay in family detention with their child for months or years as their immigration case proceeds, or allow children to be taken to a government shelter so other relatives or guardians can seek custody," the Post added.
An unnamed Department of Homeland Security official told Politico about the idea: "I don't know how much this is going to lead to additional family separation or how much this is going to lead to prolonged detention of these families. I think the White House believes both of those are good things, because both of those would have a deterrent effect."
According to the DHS, there was a 38 percent rise in the number of people taken into custody for illegally crossing the U.S. border during the month of August.