A leaked Trump administration briefing described by Reuters reveals a plan to separate children, including very young children, from their mothers for immigration detention purposes, seemingly as a deterrent to parents who attempt to cross the US border without authorization.
Children would be warehoused by Department of Health and Human Services and then turned over to foster parents or relatives in the USA.
Two of the officials were briefed on the proposal at a Feb. 2 town hall for asylum officers by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services asylum chief John Lafferty.A third DHS official said the department is actively considering separating women from their children but has not made a decision.
HHS and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Exclusive: Trump administration considering separating women, children at Mexico border
[Julia Edwards Ainsley/Reuters]
