Most parents now caught crossing the border illegally with their children are quickly released to await civil deportation hearings. Homeland Security officials say it is not U.S. policy to separate families at the border, but advocates say they've seen a surge in these cases over the past year. (Jon Gerberg/The Washington Post)President Trump has repeatedly vowed to crack down on illegal border crossings. After Trump’s directive, issued April 6, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered U.S. attorneys along the border from Texas to California to prosecute “to the extent practicable” all illegal border crossers referred to them by the Department of Homeland Security. For the most part, federal officials historically have separated parents and children only when they were unsure whether they were related to one another.

Source: Washington Post April 26, 2018 23:47 UTC