Officials consider giving immigrant parents a tough choice
WASHINGTON — The White House is actively considering plans that could again separate parents and children at the U.S.-Mexico border, hoping to reverse soaring numbers of families attempting to cross illegally into the United States, according to several administration officials with direct knowledge of the effort.
One option under consideration is for the government to detain asylumseeking families together for up to 20 days, then give parents a choice: stay in family detention with your child for months or years as your immigration case proceeds, or allow your children to be taken to a government shelter so other relatives or guardians can seek custody.
That option — called “binary choice” — is one of several under consideration amid the president’s frustration over border security. He has been unable to fulfill key promises to build a border wall and end what he calls “catch and release” — a process begun under past administrations, in which most detained families are quickly freed to await immigration hearings. The number of migrant family members arrested and charged with illegally crossing the border jumped 38 percent in August and is now at record levels, according to DHS officials.
Senior administration officials say they are not planning to revive the chaotic forced separations carried out by the Trump administration in May and June, which spawned an enormous political backlash and led to a court order to reunite families.
But they feel compelled to do something, and officials say senior White House adviser Stephen Miller is advocating tough measures because he believes the springtime separations worked as an effective deterrent to illegal crossings.
At least 2,500 children were taken from their parents over a period of six weeks. Crossings by families declined slightly in May, June and July before surging again in August. September numbers are expected to be even higher.
Lawyers have raised questions about the legality of splitting up families, even if parents sign waivers to do so, and the government lacks detention space for a large number of additional families. ICE has three “family residential centers” with a combined capacity of roughly 3,000 parents and children.