Border separations:

Washington DC

President Trump gave in to intense political and public pressure last week, and signed an executive order to end the separation of families crossing the border illegally from Mexico. “I didn’t like the sight or feeling of families being separated,” said the president ( see page 14). The White House insisted its “zero tolerance” policy, of prosecuting all adults crossing the border illegally, was continuing and that children would simply be kept with their parents during that process. However, on Monday officials said that they had temporarily stopped handing migrants with children over for prosecution because there was not enough room to house them, and a judge in San Diego ruled on Tuesday that children should be reunited with their parents within 30 days. Meanwhile, 17 states filed a lawsuit against the administration claiming the policy was unconstitutional, as it was “motivated by animus and a desire to harm”, and that Trump’s order was illusory, because it would not bring families back together or stop others being separated.

This week, the issue segued into a debate about the treatment of White House officials by hostile members of the public. Among other incidents, the homeland security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, was last week booed by protesters in a restaurant in Washington DC, while Sarah Huckabee Sanders (pictured), Trump’s press secretary, was asked to leave a restaurant in Virginia.