Amid outrage from lawmakers and political operatives from both parties, as well as plans for nationwide protests, President Donald Trump reversed course and signed an executive order Wednesday ending the policy of separating children and from undocumented immigrant and asylum seekers at the southern border, despite repeated claims that only Congress could do so.
Trump said the so-called “zero tolerance” policy on illegal entry remains in place, but that families would be detained together. The text of the executive order was not immediately released, nor was any information on whether the 2,300 children already taken into government custody and placed in internment centers and camps would be reunited with their parents.
The controversial policy took effect about five weeks ago, and has been described by Attorney General Jeff Sessions as a deterrent to illegal immigration. Trump had called the practice “horrible” but falsely claimed that only Democrats in Congress could stop it.
The end of the policy comes after several days of increasingly negative media coverage, which included audio of children weeping inside a detention center. On Tuesday protesters forced Nielsen out of a Mexican restaurant and on Wednesday both American Airlines and United Airlines said they would no longer transport children in government custody. Also Wednesday longtime GOP operative Steve Schmidt renounced the Republican Party and said he would be an independent voter aligned with the Democratic Party.
