Trump admin weighed targeting migrant families, speeding up deportation of children
Source: NBC
Trump administration officials weighed speeding up the deportation of migrant children by denying them their legal right to asylum hearings after separating them from their parents, according to comments on a late 2017 draft of what became the administration's family separation policy obtained by NBC News.
The draft also shows officials wanted to specifically target parents in migrant families for increased prosecutions, contradicting the administration's previous statements. In June, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the administration did "not have a policy of separating families at the border" but was simply enforcing existing law.
The authors noted that the "increase in prosecutions would be reported by the media and it would have a substantial deterrent effect."
The draft plan was provided to NBC News by the office of Sen. Jeff Merkley, D.-Ore., which says it was leaked by a government whistleblower.
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Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna958811
Merkley's tweet about this, minutes ago:
Link to tweet
= new reply since forum marked as read
