President Donald Trump is now blaming Democrats for his immigration laws that he has enforced. The Trump administration put forth a new, controversial policy that would separate children from parents who illegally crossed the United States' southern border from Mexico. It is a practice the White House is trying to deal with in relation to illegal immigration.

The new policy stems from Donald Trump’s campaign when he attacked illegal immigrants coming into the United States from Mexico. Last month, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced his “zero tolerance” for immigrants entering the United States illegally, especially those individuals coming in from Mexico.

According to ABC News, the US Attorney General made a statement directed at illegal immigrants, “If you are smuggling a child then we will prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you as required by law.”

Earlier in May, the president alerted the Department of Homeland Security of the policy that will separate families at the border. According to CNN, Donald Trump (on Wednesday, May 23), released this statement, “We have to break up families. The Democrats gave us that law. It’s a horrible thing, we have to break up families.”

Many Democrats are baffled by the president’s statement, as it is the president’s new immigration policy that allows families to be separated at the southern border of the US.

What will happen to the children?

Children that enter the country by crossing the border with their parents will be taken immediately from their parents’ care. If the adult is caught and captured at the border, a child (or children) will be placed in the official care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, while parents will face criminal charges.

The new policy will also affect child smuggling as well. Any adult who is found guilty of smuggling children into the US will also be facing criminal charges and the children will be taken away immediately. According to USA Today, White House senior policy advisor Stephen Miller stated that the loopholes in the immigration law were created by Democrats, which made human smuggling and crossing the border easier.

“The children smuggling trade would be shut down if we could close these loopholes,” Miller stated.

Trump attacks Democrats

On Saturday, May 26, the president tweeted, “Put pressure on Democrats to end the horrible law that separates children from there parents once they cross the Border into U.S.” Trump also stated in a tweet that followed, “Catch and Release, Lottery and Chain must also go with it and we MUST continue building the WALL! DEMOCRATS ARE PROTECTING MS-13 THUGS.”

Like many of Trump’s tweets, the claims against Democrats are false. Donald Trump and his administration are responsible for the harsh new border laws that cause children to be separated from their families. According to the Associated Press, Donald Trump notes “catch and release” in his tweet, referring to the border crossings that were established in 2008 by the Bush administration.

During George W. Bush’s presidency, the United States saw the number fleeing children -- crossing the border into the US -- rise. This was all in an effort to escape child-traffickers.

The new policy created by Trump and his advisors changes that. According to Vanity Fair, before the Trump era, children that were fleeing from Mexico were detained by the Office of Refugee Resettlement and they placed the unaccompanied minors in government-run detention centers. Though, if parents and children came together, they would be processed together, but, under the new law, children can be forcibly taken away from their parents -- including children as young as one.
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