'We Need to Take Away Children,' No Matter How Young, Justice Dept Officials Said

Written by <a href="index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=56549"><span class="small">Michael D. Shear, Katie Benner and Michael S. Schmidt, The New York Times</span></a>

Wednesday, 07 October 2020 12:44

Excerpt: "The five U.S. attorneys along the border with Mexico, including three appointed by President Trump, recoiled in May 2018 against an order to prosecute all undocumented immigrants even if it meant separating children from their parents."

As attorney general, Jeff Sessions enforced a 'zero tolerance' policy on immigration that separated children from their parents. (photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times)

'We Need to Take Away Children,' No Matter How Young, Justice Dept Officials Said

By Michael D. Shear, Katie Benner and Michael S. Schmidt, The New York Times

07 October 20

Top department officials were “a driving force” behind President Trump’s child separation policy, a draft investigation report said.

he five U.S. attorneys along the border with Mexico, including three appointed by President Trump, recoiled in May 2018 against an order to prosecute all undocumented immigrants even if it meant separating children from their parents. They told top Justice Department officials they were “deeply concerned” about the children’s welfare.

But the attorney general at the time, Jeff Sessions, made it clear what Mr. Trump wanted on a conference call later that afternoon, according to a two-year inquiry by the Justice Department’s inspector general into Mr. Trump’s “zero tolerance” family separation policy.

“We need to take away children,” Mr. Sessions told the prosecutors, according to participants’ notes. One added in shorthand: “If care about kids, don’t bring them in. Won’t give amnesty to people with kids.”

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