cIn a secret program that started in 2017—and which was later publicly announced as "zero tolerance"—the Trump Administration separated more than 5,500 migrant children from their parents. A stated goal was to deter would-be asylum seekers from crossing the southwest border illegally. Even after a federal district court enjoined this policy, our government continued to separate families, affecting another approximately 1,110 children.

According to the Office of the Inspector General, due to inconsistent and inadequate record-keeping by the administration, the total number of separated children is unknown, and the actual number may never be known. Recent court filings indicate the parents of some 545 of the separated children who remain in the U.S. have not yet been found—and may never be.

Representative Rosa DeLauro described family separation as "state-sanctioned child abuse." Some parents described hearing their children screaming for them from the next room as children were taken from them. Others were unaware that they might never see their children again, because agents claimed that the youngsters were being moved only temporarily.