Pause in prosecution of migrant parents

WASHINGTON: Migrants who illegally enter the US with their children will not be detained and prosecuted, the government agency that patrols the borders has said.

Customs and Border Protection commissioner Kevin Mcaleenan told reporters that his agents will stop referring these families for prosecution, adding that the system of separating children from their families had not worked out. “A much better system would be to keep families together through their immigration proceedings,” he was quoted as saying by NPR at a detention facility in Texas.

“That’s what the Obama administration did in 2014. That’s what the president (Donald Trump) has asked Congress to help us do now.”

Those apprehended will now be processed and released with the understanding that they will show up for court hearings.

Reuters quoted a source at CBP as saying that the agency will soon resume the referrals for prosecution and is still sending for prosecution those adults who are caught crossing illegally and do not have children with them.

The Trump administration started enforcing its “zero tolerance” policy in May but faced an international outcry after accounts surfaced of children being separated from their families — the administration later confirmed it had separated 2,300 children.

Trump formally ended the policy of separating families last week, but his administration has yet to reunite more than 2,000 children with their parents. Also unclear is how the government will house thousands of families while the parents are prosecuted.

Attorney general Jeff Sessions has said that his department will continue to prosecute people coming in illegally and that the “zero tolerance” policy is still in place.