BORDER/IMMIGRATION/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The nation’s top border security official said on Monday [6-25-18] that his agency has temporarily stopped handing over migrant adults who cross the Mexican border with children to prosecutors, undercutting claims by other administration officials that ‘zero tolerance’ for illegal immigration is still in place. Kevin K. McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, said he had told border agents not to refer families to the Justice Department for prosecution until the two agencies can agree on a policy that would allow parents to be prosecuted without separating them from their children. Because Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not have enough detention space for families, the immediate impact of the decision will be that many families will be quickly released, with a promise to return for a court date at some point in the future. The decision by Mr. McAleenan, conveyed to reporters at a detention center here, will effectively revive a ‘catch and release’ approach used during the Obama administration for most families crossing the Mexican border illegally. President Trump has repeatedly railed against ‘catch and release’ and blamed it for helping to invite waves of crime and violence into the United States.”
-Ron Nixon, Erica L. Green and Michael D. Shear, “Border Officials Suspend Handing Over Migrant Families to Prosecutors,” The New York Times online, June 25, 2018