BORDER/CHILDREN/DHS/IMMIGRATION/MEXICO/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration is considering ways to deter a soaring number of families arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border — including once again separating parents and children, three current and former Homeland Security Department officials told POLITICO. If parents and children are separated, parents will have a say, the officials emphasized. Under a 90-day pilot program, parents seeking asylum would be given a ‘binary choice’ to be detained with their children through the course of their immigration proceedings or to send their children to a shelter where they can be released to a sponsor…But another DHS official called binary choice ‘another Trump administration special’ that appears geared toward manufacturing a crisis. ‘They look at a bunch of options and think how can they drive up the chaos,’ the official said. The Washington Post first reported Friday on the potential plan to discourage migrants through the choice of detention or separation. Arrests of family members at the southwest border rose nearly 30 percent in September compared with the previous month, according to preliminary figures obtained by POLITICO. Border Patrol arrested approximately 16,500 family members in September — the highest monthly total since such record keeping began in 2012.”
–Ted Hesson, “Trump administration considers family separation option as border arrests soar,” Politico, October 12, 2018 7:59 pm