Why children are separated from parents at the US-Mexico border

Child migrant camps are ‘inevitable
consequence’ of Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration

In Depth

The scenes unfolding along the US-Mexico border coincide with a
crackdown on unauthorised immigration from Central America that was
unveiled by the Donald Trump administration in April.

However, the president claims the fault lies
with existing legislation passed under previous Democrat
administrations.

Pressed by White House reporters about the
images of tearful family separations, Trump said: “I hate the
children being taken away. The Democrats have to change their law –
that’s their law.”

In reality, “there is no federal law that stipulates that
children and parents be separated at the border, no matter how
families entered the United States”, says Snopes.

According to the fact-checking website, the
situation is actually the consequence of a new “zero tolerance”
approach to illegal immigration introduced in April by US Attorney
General Jeff Sessions, a Trump appointee.

In the past, families entering the country illegally
“were rarely criminally prosecuted”, says Politifact. Many were released to await a court
date for an immigration hearing, while others were housed in family
detention centres before being sent to appear before an immigration
court or deported.

The new enforcement policy requires that every
adult caught entering the US illegally is detained and referred to
the Justice Department for criminal prosecution, even if they
intend to claim asylum.

Intentional or not, family separation is the
“inevitable consequence” of such a policy, says The Washington Post, a reality that was
recognised by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in
May.

“Operationally what that means is we will have to
separate your family,” she told the NPR new service, and argued that the
policy was “no different than what we do every day in every part of
the United States when an adult of a family commits a crime”.

From mid-April to May, more than 2,000 children from
Central America were removed from their families at the US border
and placed in government facilities, Reuters reports.

Pressure is growing from both sides of the
political aisle to come up with a compromise that will end the
sorry spectacle of family separations.

Utah Congresswoman Mia Love is one of several
Republicans to speak out against the current state of affairs,
which she called “heartbreaking”.

“This is not a partisan issue,” she said. “It’s an issue of
right or wrong.”