Trump Is Pushing to Restart Family Separations at Border
WASHINGTON — President Trump has pushed his aides for months to restart the practice of routinely separating immigrant parents from their children to try and deter Central American migrants from showing up at the southwestern border, officials said on Monday.
Three senior administration officials with knowledge of the president’s conversations confirmed Mr. Trump’s renewed push. The president was pressing to restart the separation policy at a time when he was increasingly dissatisfied with Kirstjen Nielsen, the Homeland Security secretary, who resigned on Sunday.
The push is among a slew of hard-line policies that officials said Mr. Trump may consider after his purge of top immigration and security aides. At least five Department of Homeland Security officials — including Ms. Nielsen, and perhaps more — are expected to step down in coming days. The changes suggest the White House may also be considering a new crackdown on asylum seekers and closing the United States border with Mexico.
Ms. Nielsen was the head of the department during the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy last year that led to the separation of thousands of families. Last summer, Mr. Trump grudgingly signed an executive order ending widespread family separations after fierce criticism of the policy, which led several thousand children to be taken from their parents, who were detained for illegally entering the United States.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-is-pushing-to-restart-family-separations-at-border/ar-BBVK0ls?li=BBnb7Kz