HOW TO THINK ABOUT IT

The process. Most children, when caught crossing illegally, will be turned over to the Department of Health and Human Services, which is responsible for getting them to a sponsor, a legal relative, a juvenile detention center or foster care. But because so many children have been put into the care of HHS, a backlog has caused overstay at “border stations” meant to house them before they travel on. As of June 2, nearly 300 of the 550 children at border stations had spent more than 72 hours there. These stations often lack proper bedding or separate sleeping rooms for minors. After the children are placed in long-term care, they can go weeks without speaking with their parents.

“Brutal, offensive.” So said U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego this week when describing the policy of separating children and adults. Sabraw refused to throw out an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit that argues splitting up asylum-seeking families violates their due process. A request by the ACLU for an injunction of the practice is still pending. While administration officials have said the policy is a necessary deterrent to immigrants, that isn’t working yet either: Border crossings in May were up 160 percent year-on-year, and the number of families crossing was up 435 percent.

Unlikely criticism. When Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the new policy last month, it fit right in with the Trump administration’s tough stance on immigration. That Democratic leaders urged the administration to keep families intact wasn’t surprising either — including Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, who was denied entry to one of the facilities holding children and later compared the structures he saw to “dog kennels.” But this week, President Trump himself tweeted criticism, falsely blaming Democrats “for bad legislation” causing family separations. No such legislation exists — but it nevertheless reveals the president’s desire to distance himself from the politically toxic separations.

Around the world. Migration experts and activists say there’s no other country that’s practicing family separation for immigrants. Even in countries like Australia, which has some of the world’s most extreme policies against illegal migration, families are generally allowed to stay together. Meanwhile, those seeking legitimate asylum in the U.S. are reportedly often being turned away from border checkpoints and told to come back when officials are less busy — and recently, immigration advocates report, they are even being physically kept from setting foot on U.S. soil, which formally triggers their right to seek asylum.

WHAT TO READ

The Truth About Separating Kids, by Rich Lowry at the National Review
"The option that both honors our laws and keeps family units together is a swift return home after prosecution. But immigrant advocates hate it because they want the migrants to stay in the United States."

“Where’s Mommy?”: A family fled death threats, only to face separation at the border, Michael E. Miller and Jon Gerber in The Washington Post
"They were told they’d join their family in a few days, but days turned into weeks. Surrounded by strangers in a strange place, they wondered: Would they ever see their parents again?"

WHAT TO WATCH