Trump is reportedly set to reverse his own administration's family separation policy


President Trump will reportedly sign an executive order to end his own administration's "zero tolerance" policy of separating migrant parents from their children at the U.S.-Mexico border, The New York Times reports. Ahead of the expected order, Trump canceled Thursday's congressional picnic, saying it "doesn't feel right" because "we're doing something so important."
Trump and other administration officials have long resisted reversing the heavily-criticized policy of separating families, initially announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in May. Trump has attempted to pass the blame off on Democrats, and when asked why he didn't take executive action by ABC News' Kenneth Moton last week, Trump replied: "We can't do it through an executive order."
Also on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported that Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who has been at the center of the controversy, reportedly drafted an order that would put an end to the policy she has defended. "We will not apologize for enforcing the laws passed by Congress," she had tweeted earlier this week, although there are no such laws ordering children to be separated. "We are a nation of laws. We are asking Congress to change the laws."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The New York Times notes that Trump's executive order, which would end "the separation of families at the border by indefinitely detaining parents and children together," would have to also get around the 1997 Flores settlement, which prohibits the government from holding minors in immigration detention for more than 20 days, regardless of if they are with a parent or not.
CNN says Trump had faced pressure from first lady Melania Trump over the policy, which many critics have pointed out he could have ended at any time.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
Mamdani upsets Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary
Speed Read Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from