{"slug":"family-separation-zero-tolerance","title":"Zero Tolerance Family Separation: Systematic Removal of Children from Asylum-Seeking Parents","date":"2018-04-06","lastUpdated":"2022-06-16","description":"The Trump administration's 'zero tolerance' policy mandated criminal prosecution of all adults crossing the border without authorization, which caused systematic separation of thousands of children — including infants and toddlers — from their parents. Courts found the policy violated due process; the government spent years failing to reunify families.","summary":"Attorney General Sessions announced a zero tolerance policy in April 2018 requiring criminal prosecution of all illegal border crossers. Because federal criminal custody excludes children, this automatically separated minors from their parents. Over 5,500 children were separated in six weeks. Courts ordered reunification; as of 2024, hundreds of families remain separated.","category":"deportation-to-torture","severity":"extreme","ongoing":true,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/us/politics/trump-immigration-policy-family-separation.html","title":"Trump's 'Zero Tolerance' at the Border: What's Happening, and Why","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/north-america-donald-trump-us-news-ap-top-news-immigration-17ffd7a7c28c4c1687e49b1307c0abfb","title":"AP Exclusive: Feds may have separated thousands more migrant kids","publisher":"The Associated Press"},{"url":"https://www.aclu.org/cases/ms-l-v-ice","title":"Ms. L. v. ICE — ACLU Family Separation Challenge","publisher":"ACLU"},{"url":"https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-BL-18-00511.asp","title":"Separated Children Placed in Office of Refugee Resettlement Care","publisher":"HHS Office of Inspector General"},{"url":"https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/dhs_oig_-19-47_jun19.pdf","title":"Special Review — Initial Observations Regarding Family Separation Issues Under the Zero Tolerance Policy","publisher":"DHS Office of Inspector General"},{"url":"https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr51/8901/2018/en/","title":"USA: 'You Don't Have Any Rights Here' — Illegal Pushbacks, Arbitrary Detention, and Ill-Treatment of Asylum-Seekers","publisher":"Amnesty International"},{"url":"https://www.doj.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/2020.09.12-Family-Separation-Report.pdf","title":"Department of Justice Inspector General Report on Family Separation","publisher":"Department of Justice Office of Inspector General"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["family-separation","zero-tolerance","children","torture","immigration","border","first-term","asylum-seekers"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2017-12-01","title":"Early family separation pilots","summary":"The administration quietly tests family separation in El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley without public announcement. Hundreds of families are separated before Congress learns of the practice."},{"date":"2018-04-06","title":"Zero tolerance memo issued","summary":"AG Jeff Sessions issues a zero tolerance memo requiring U.S. attorneys to prosecute all adults crossing the border illegally, including those with accompanying children. The predictable result — family separation — is explicit in internal communications."},{"date":"2018-05-07","title":"Sessions announces zero tolerance publicly","summary":"Sessions announces the policy in a speech, framing it as a deterrent: 'If you are smuggling a child, we will prosecute you, and that child may be separated from you.'"},{"date":"2018-05-26","title":"Children in cages — media reports","summary":"Photographs and reports emerge of children held in chain-link enclosures at Border Patrol facilities. The administration insists cages are used only temporarily."},{"date":"2018-06-15","title":"Inspector General confirms 2,700+ separations","summary":"HHS OIG confirms that as of June 2018, 2,737 children had been separated from their parents under zero tolerance. The true number is later revised upward substantially."},{"date":"2018-06-20","title":"Trump signs executive order purporting to end family separation","summary":"Under intense public pressure, Trump signs an order directing that families be detained together. Reunifications do not systematically occur; courts intervene."},{"date":"2018-06-26","title":"Federal judge orders reunification","summary":"Judge Dana Sabraw of the Southern District of California orders the government to reunify all separated families within 30 days and children under 5 within 14 days. The government admits it has no tracking system."},{"date":"2019-01-01","title":"HHS OIG reports severe trauma","summary":"HHS Inspector General publishes a report documenting 'intense trauma' in separated children, including suicidal ideation, self-harm, refusal to eat, and difficulty regulating emotions."},{"date":"2022-06-16","title":"Biden task force: 1,400+ still not reunified","summary":"The Biden Family Reunification Task Force reports that approximately 1,400 children whose parents were deported without them remain separated; many parents cannot be located."}],"location":{"name":"U.S.-Mexico Border","lat":31.9,"lng":-106.4},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"judicial-finding","warCrimeClassification":"confirmed","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"Convention Against Torture","article":"Article 1","provision":"Torture includes acts causing severe mental suffering inflicted by state agents — forcible separation of children from parents constitutes torture under this standard"},{"statute":"Convention Against Torture","article":"Article 16","provision":"States must prevent cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment by public officials"},{"statute":"Convention on the Rights of the Child","article":"Article 9","provision":"Children shall not be separated from their parents against their will; any separation must be justified by the best interests of the child"},{"statute":"International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights","article":"Article 17","provision":"No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with family"},{"statute":"1951 Refugee Convention","article":"Article 33","provision":"Non-refoulement — persons crossing borders to seek asylum cannot be criminally prosecuted solely for that act under international law"}],"iccRelevance":true,"civilianCasualties":5500,"victims":"Over 5,500 children separated from parents at the U.S.-Mexico border between April and June 2018; hundreds remain separated as of 2024","perpetrators":"Attorney General Jeff Sessions (zero tolerance memo); Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen (DHS implementation); President Donald Trump (policy authorization)","structuredVictims":[{"group":"Children separated from parents at the border","status":"Victims of forced family separation; hundreds not yet reunified","count":5500}],"structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Jeff Sessions","role":"Attorney General","institution":"Department of Justice"},{"name":"Kirstjen Nielsen","role":"Secretary of Homeland Security","institution":"Department of Homeland Security"},{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"President of the United States","institution":"White House"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2022-06-16","summary":"Updated with Biden task force progress report showing hundreds of families remain separated."},{"date":"2021-06-08","summary":"Biden task force reports first reunification flights, but thousands remain separated."}]}}