WASHINGTON: The US Border Patrol will no longer refer migrant parents who cross into the United States illegally with children to federal courthouses to face criminal charges, a senior US Customs and Border Protection official told The Washington Post on Thursday.
The about-face comes just one day after President Trump signed an executive order ending his administration’s widely denounced practice of separating parents and children apprehended for illegally crossing the Mexico border. Trump’s order said the government would maintain a “zero tolerance” policy toward those who break the law, but the senior US official, asked to explain how the government would change enforcement practices, said Border Patrol agents were instructed Wednesday evening to stop sending parents with children to federal courthouses for prosecution.
A Justice Department spokesperson denied changes to the zero tolerance policy and said prosecutions would continue.
But the decision to refer migrants for criminal charges after crossing illegally rests with the US Border Patrol, and the senior CBP official said the agency will no longer send parents who arrive with children to federal courts.
“We’re suspending prosecutions of adults who are members of family units until ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) can accelerate resource capability to allow us to maintain custody,” the official said.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to explain how enforcement operations will change to comply with Trump’s order.
A spokeswoman for the Justice Department, Sarah Isgur Flores, said “zero tolerance” remained in effect.
“There has been no change to the Department’s zero tolerance policy to prosecute adults who cross our border illegally instead of claiming asylum at any port of entry at the border,” she said.
