Cartoon by Scott Stantis

Trump ends separation policy

Politico: It took images of children in cages and reports of babies left screaming in modern-day orphanages but President Trump did something he almost never does, he backed off. Trump signed an executive order to end the policy of migrant parents being forcibly separated from their children. Though it remained unclear how long families would be detained.

And HHS indicated it would make no special effort to reunite the thousands of splintered families. And Trump previously blamed Democrats and said only Congress could fix the problem while DHS secretary Kirstjten Nielsen said there was no child separation policy to reverse in the first place.

Via POLITICO’s Andrew Restuccia and Lorraine Woellert:

“The action came after Trump and his team faced harsh criticism from lawmakers, activists, religious leaders and former first ladies over the separation of children from their parents in custody, which was panned almost universally as cruel and damaging to the kids’ well-being.

“It was a remarkable shift from a president who is typically reluctant to bow to outside pressure. He often doubles down on his existing stance when confronted with criticism. With cable news flashing images of migrant children held in cages and lawmakers’ offices facing a flood of angry phone calls, the president was under increased pressure to come up with a speedy solution.”