Trump's Family Separation Policy Was Exponentially Worse Than Previously Known

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/family-separation-thousands-779254/

The Department of Homeland Security may have separated “thousands” more children from their families than previously reported, according to a new report conducted by the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services. “More children” children were separated “over a longer period of time” than previously believed, Ann Maxwell, Assistant Inspector General for Evaluation and Inspections, said Thursday. “How many more children were separated is unknown.”

According to the report, released Thursday, separations began as a result of a Trump administration policy issued in April 2017, an entire year before the well-publicized zero tolerance policy was rolled out in April 2018.

Acting under a court order, HHS was able to identify 2,737 children who were separated from their parents, but, the report says, that number does not include children who were separated before the “zero tolerance” policy took effect. Exactly how many children were separated remains unknown, Maxwell said, because HHS faced “significant challenges in identifying separated children.”

The revised number is based on the observations of ORR officials and staff, who, the report states, began keeping informal track of family separations in 2016 under President Obama. They saw a noticeable uptick in separations in the summer of 2017.