BORDER/CHILDREN/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration was drafting policy to separate families apprehended at the US-Mexico border as early as December 2017, according to a draft memo released Thursday [1-17-19] night, despite later claims that no such policy existed. Sen. Jeff Merkley released a 2017 memo drafted by senior officials in the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice detailing the plans…The draft memo, which Merkley said he had received via a government whistleblower, provides a snapshot of the extent the administration was willing to go to deter migrants from trekking to the US-Mexico border, ranging from separating families to possibly denying children asylum hearings. It was previously reported by NBC News.”
–Priscilla Alvarez, “2017 draft memo details early plans to separate migrant families,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, January 17, 2019 1:21 am