Separation policy reversed

TRUMP CAVES IN: NOW ILLEGAL MIGRANT FAMILIES HELD TOGETHER

Outrage across the globe at order to detain kids apart from parents.

Washington

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday backed down and abandoned his policy of separating immigrant children from their parents on the US-Mexico border after images of youngsters in cages sparked outrage at home and abroad.

Trump signed an executive order requiring immigrant families be detained together when they were caught entering the country illegally for as long as their criminal proceedings to0k.

While that may end a policy that drew a rebuke from Pope Francis and everyone else, from human rights advocates to business leaders, it may also mean immigrant children remain in custody indefinitely. The Trump administration still faces legal challenges because of a court order that put a 20-day cap on how long immigration authorities may detain minors. It may trigger fresh criticism of Trump’s hardline immigration policies.

Administration officials were unable to clarify whether family separations would end immediately, or when and how families now separated would be reunited.

“We are awaiting further guidance,” Brian Marriott, a spokesperson for the health and human services department said. “Reunification is the ultimate goal of those entrusted with the care of” unaccompanied children and “the administration is working towards that” for those in custody.

The Trump order, an unusual reversal by him, moves parents with children to the front of the line for immigration proceedings, but does not end a 10-weekold “zero tolerance” policy for the prosecution of immigrants crossing the border illegally. – Reuters