When was the zero tolerance policy enacted

The Trump Administration provided no answers to basic questions from members of Congress, federal judges, public defenders, members of the media, and even the federal prosecutors and DHS personnel who were tasked with applying this new policy.

Members of Congress and members of the media were sometimes denied access to detention centers where children are being held. When they are allowed access, they were often not allowed to bring cameras or other recording devices. At one point, when Senator Jeff Merkley D-OR asked to tour a detention facility, agents there called the police and told him to leave. It is not clear what the policies are for taking care of these children, whether immigration agents in the detention centers are qualified to do so, or what the process is for trying to reunite children with their parents.

Now that Democrats are in charge of the House and holding oversight hearings , members of the Administration are still trying to obscure the facts and the full consequences of their cruel policy. Even though the Trump Administration is responsible for this policy, and even though Republicans controlled the Senate, House, and White House, Donald Trump has wrongly tried to blame Democrats for the separation of families.

We have to break up families. Amy Harmon of the New York Times reported:. In fact, his own administration had just announced this policy earlier this month…. There is no law mandating separation. And the Democrats did not initiate that. The Republican-led Congress could have certainly passed a law that prevented the Trump Administration from separating families.

House Republicans put forward two immigration bills they initially claimed would end the separation of families, but the bills would not have ended the practice.

Congressional Republicans did not advance legislation that would check what the Trump Administration did to families on the border — nor did they seriously try to uncover the full extent of the zero tolerance policy or hold Trump Administration officials accountable. Miller was instrumental in Mr. Miller even helped white nationalist Richard Spencer raise money for an immigration debate at Duke University. Polls from Quinnipiac and CNN have found majorities against the separation of families.

More and more pediatricians are raising alarm bells. Two dozen leaders from the largest religious groups in the U. Many Congressional Democrats have spoken out against the practice, and a number of House Democrats staged an act of civil disobedience on Capitol Hill. Dozens of celebrities have spoken out. So have countless op-eds and editorial boards. Slate has an ongoing compilation of organizations and groups that are working to help children and families.

Find the list and donate to them here. Originally published June 18, ; last updated March 25, The Trump Administration has separated over 2, children from their families at the U. In this post: Timeline of family separations Why did the Trump Administration separate thousands of families? What happened to the children after they were separated from their families? Is the separation of families a new policy? What has the separation of families looked like?

Summer The Administration begins a pilot program to test their family separation policy in the El Paso, Texas border region.

They separate an unknown number of families, according to an Inspector General report. October The New York Times reports that the Administration has separated more than children , of whom are under the age of 4. December 21, The Administration convenes an interagency meeting to further discuss family separation. January 16, Over experts in child welfare, juvenile justice, and child development sends a letter to the Trump Administration to warn against family separations.

March 1, The AAP sends a follow-up letter to the Trump Administration warning of the dangers of family separation and urging DHS to reject a family separation policy. The report follows other scathing investigations of the policy, adding to evidence that Trump administration officials knew a zero-tolerance policy would result in family separations and inflict trauma on immigrant parents and children.

A watchdog report from the Department of Health and Human Services found that children separated at the border, many already distressed by their life in their home countries or by their journey, showed more fear, feelings of abandonment and post-traumatic stress symptoms than children who were not separated. The chaotic reunification process only added to their ordeal. Other emails suggest the Department of Homeland Security did not tell HHS officials about the pilot program, even as government facilities for minors run by HHS saw an uptick in children who had been taken from their parents.

The emails were released by congressional Democrats in an October report. Sections U. Science Technology Business U. A court-appointed committee has yet to find the parents of children separated at the border early in the Trump administration.

Full Coverage: Immigration. Immigrants who are not criminally prosecuted but are placed in the civil immigration system are held in detention centers that are similar to prisons, or in some cases, are actually federal prisons.

Immigrants are often detained for months or even years and they also appear in immigration court. The idea that criminal prosecution would seem like a unique and additional punishment is undercut by the punitive nature of immigration detention. In , the chief judge of the US District of Arizona declared a judicial emergency in part due to the strain of immigration cases.

Individuals serving sentences for illegal entry and reentry are an important source of the burgeoning federal prison population. The number of people serving prison sentences for immigration offenses grew percent from to Prosecutors and other law enforcement officials have also noted that criminal prosecution of unauthorized immigrants with minor or no prior criminal histories has diverted resources from more pressing law enforcement and border security concerns.

It is in this context that the Trump administration has sought significant increases in funding for federal prosecutors specifically for immigration enforcement, as well as an unprecedented level of immigration detention capacity and other deportation resources. All sovereign states have a legitimate interest in regulating entry into their territories, and particularly in deterring the illegal entry or reentry of non-nationals who pose a threat to public safety.

But the prosecutions of illegal entry offenses are overbroad, especially when one considers that immigration authorities already have the power to deport unauthorized immigrants. Prosecutions are thus draining resources that could go to efforts to increase public safety and create a more secure, efficient, and humane immigration system.

Among other steps, the US government should:. International Alternatives to Detaining Immigrants. Get updates on human rights issues from around the globe. Join our movement today. Help us continue to fight human rights abuses. Please give now to support our work. Human Rights Watch.

Donate Now. Take Action. Join Us. Give Now. The Trump administration has claimed it is merely enforcing existing laws. Click to expand Image. Your tax deductible gift can help stop human rights violations and save lives around the world. More Reading. July 31, Commentary. July 31, Dispatches.