The shameful practice of separating migrant families did not start, nor did it end, with the zero-tolerance policy. But when the policy was in effect, the U.S. government separated thousands of families in a matter of weeks, traumatizing thousands of children and their parents and overwhelming federal prosecutors, courts, and detention facilities—all but guaranteeing that hundreds of children would not be able to be reunited with their parents. Officials who played key roles in the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy knew it would result in family separations and embraced it. The Trump administration intended to wield family separation as a deterrence method, to stop families from seeking protection in the United States.
The first Trump administration decided to wind down the zero-tolerance policy after six and a half weeks, in part due to efforts from key stakeholders, including litigants, who fought for transparency and accountability. Records obtained through FOIA requests and reviewed by the Council provide insight into these efforts. They showcase the media and the public’s interest in this issue and the deficiencies in government systems that were supposed to keep track of families and children. They also demonstrate the way in which Congress provided critical oversight when the administration engaged in this atrocious practice.
These records are vital to understanding the deficiencies that allowed separations to occur—and to occur without plans to reunite children with their families. They also provide a lesson in how to fight back against policies like these that shock the public conscience, as occurred with family separations.
