President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday ending the process of separating children from families after they are detained crossing the U.S. border illegally. Until Wednesday, the federal government repeatedly argued the only way to end the practice was for Congress to pass new legislation.
Trump also wrongly claimed prior to today that his administration had no choice but to separate families apprehended at the border because of federal law and a court decision. The executive order is a complete U turn of that policy.
Trump said his order would not end the “zero-tolerance” policy that criminally prosecutes all adults caught crossing the border illegally. The order aims to keep families together while they are in custody.
Justice Department lawyers provided the ground work for the executive order as a legal workaround for a previous class-action settlement that set policies for the treatment and release of unaccompanied children who are caught at the border.
However, Trump’s executive order now creates a new set of problems involving length of detention of families. Fresh court litigation is expected if the children are slated to be detained “indefinitely” along and together with the adult parents.
