By Ted Hesson and Nathan Layne
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald Trump has vowed to intensify his immigration crackdown if he returns to the White House and hasn’t ruled out reviving the controversial policy of separating families at the U.S.-Mexico border. However, potential allies are hesitant to join a new Trump administration due to concerns about re-implementing the 2018 “zero tolerance” policy that led to the separation of thousands of children from their parents at the southwest border.
Even as Trump considers tougher measures against migrants, five former Trump officials and conservative allies expressed fear about reinstating the zero tolerance policy, citing worries of another public backlash similar to the original one that sparked widespread criticism.
“The family separation that resulted from the zero tolerance caused an uproar in the country,” said Tom Homan, a former Trump immigration official. “The best way to do it, rather than deal with all that chaos that comes with it, is to keep them in a residential center together and have their hearings together.”
Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination and has made border security a focal point of his campaign. He is vowing to reintroduce the strict policies from his previous presidency and introduce new ones that further tighten both legal and illegal immigration.
During a CNN town hall in May, Trump praised the effectiveness of family separations and refused to rule out reinstating them, asserting that they deterred illegal immigration. The Democratic President Joe Biden‘s re-election campaign has seized upon Trump’s hardline stance on immigration, characterizing it as an example of the extremist policy the Republican would pursue if reelected to the White House.
Civil rights activists are alarmed by Trump’s comments and are prepared to fight any new version of the policy in court.
‘LOT OF WAYS TO DO THIS’
The Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, launched in April 2018 to discourage illegal border crossings, including by families, was criticized for separating parents and children. Trump ended the policy in June 2018 amid pushback and instead sought to detain families together, but faced limitations due to court orders on family detention.
Biden has grappled with record numbers of migrants crossing the border illegally since he took office. With some opinion polls favoring Trump over Biden on immigration issues in battleground states, Biden’s campaign has taken a firm stance against Trump’s separation policy, calling it “cruel” and “inhumane.”
“Trump has been unapologetically open about the extreme, inhumane, and fundamentally un-American policies that he would enact,” Biden campaign manager Julie Rodriguez said on a Nov. 18 press call before a Trump border visit.
Homan said he is unsure how he would handle a potential revival of family separation and suggested alternative methods with better safeguards to quickly reunite separated families.
Chad Wolf, Trump’s former acting homeland chief and current executive director of the America First Policy Institute, stated “all options need to be on the table” for revisiting family separations. However, he emphasized that the U.S. public did not support the policy and other actions could achieve the same goal.
ACTIVISTS READY LEGAL FIGHT
If Trump did implement a family separation policy, he would likely face legal challenges. The ACLU has expressed readiness to return to court if separations resumed. Similarly, Mark Morgan, a top border official under Trump, does not believe a new Trump administration would implement a family separation policy like the first time. Morgan highlighted Trump’s 2019 “remain in Mexico” policy as a better option, which coincided with a drop in border apprehensions, including of families. Biden moved to end “remain in Mexico” but Trump has pledged to bring it back if reelected.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington and Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Additional reporting by Gram Slattery in Washington; Editing by Ross Colvin and Daniel Wallis)
