Deliberate Family Separation at the Border
The "zero tolerance" immigration policy deliberately separated thousands of children — including infants — from their parents at the border, with no system to reunite them. Hundreds of children remain separated years later.
On April 6, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions signed the "zero tolerance" memorandum directing prosecution of all adults crossing the border illegally, deliberately separating children from their parents as a deterrent to immigration. Implementation ramped up on May 4 when DHS Secretary Nielsen signed a related memo.
The administration initially denied the policy existed, then defended it, then attempted to blame Democrats for it. Internal documents later revealed the family separation approach had been discussed as a deliberate deterrent strategy months before implementation.
The human toll was staggering:
- Nearly 3,000 children were separated from their families before Trump signed an executive order halting the practice on June 20, 2018
- Children as young as four months old were taken from their parents
- The government had no adequate system for tracking or reuniting families
- Children were held in cage-like facilities, sleeping on concrete floors under foil blankets
- Hundreds of children remain separated from their parents years later — some may never be reunited
A federal court found the separations so egregious that it ordered the government to reunite families. Internal government watchdog reports documented widespread psychological trauma among separated children, including symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, and depression.