John Moore/Getty Images
A Honduran mother with her daughter shortly before they are separated at the US-Mexico border.
- Donald Trump's administration has repeatedly denied that its policy is to separate children from their parents when they cross the US border illegally.
- But its own internal documents contradict that.
- The Department of Homeland Security's website put out a press release on June 15 saying that it would separate children from their families.
- A "zero tolerance" policy from Attorney General Jeff Sessions mandates all border-crossers be treated as criminals.
- They are therefore forcibly removed from their families.
President Donald Trump's administration has repeatedly denied that its policy is to separate children from their parents when they cross the US border illegally, but its own internal documents contradict that.
Trump had previously tried to blame the policy on Democrats, but over the weekend his Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristjen Nielsen, flat out denied that such a policy existed.
"We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period," Nielsen tweeted.
But the DHS does separate children from families at the border, and they just put out a press release about it on June 15, explaining its new "zero tolerance" policy for border crossers.
From the DHS website:
The Attorney General directed United States Attorneys on the Southwest Border to prosecute all amenable adults who illegally enter the country, including those accompanied by their children, for 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a), illegal entry.
Children whose parents are referred for prosecution will be placed with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).
Another FAQ section deals with questions including; "Why Are Parents Being Separated From Their Children?"; "Where Are Children Going?"; "What Happens to Children in HHS Custody?"
DHS.gov
An image of the DHS memo.
The DHS made a step-by-step guide for detained adults who are trying to reach their children called "Next Steps for Families."
Furthermore, the rise of facilities that house children separated from their families at the border during Trump's administration has been well documented.
Nielsen's real argument is that border crossers are criminals
Getty Images Mexicans walk along the U.S.-Mexico border fence on May 1, 2016 in Tijuana, Mexico.
Nielsen continued: "For those seeking asylum at ports of entry, we have continued the policy from previous Administrations and will only separate if the child is in danger, there is no custodial relationship between 'family' members, or if the adult has broken a law."
Unauthorized border crossings have always been illegal, but previous administrations did not criminally prosecute all border-crossers.
Trump's Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, began the process of treating all border crossers as criminals.
Detained criminals in the US have always been separated from their children and families.
Trump's administration, therefore, has crafted a policy that leads to families being separated at the border by defining all adult border crossers as criminals.