Trump Signs Executive Order To End Family Separation Under Pressure From His Wife And Daughter In Border Policy U-Turn - But Doesn't End 'Zero Tolerance' Prosecution Policy

President Donald Trump this afternoon signed an executive order ending family separation at the border.
The president, in an abrupt U-turn on the divisive policy put into place by his own administration, directed the Department of Homeland Security to detain families together so long as children are not put into danger.
'I didn't like the sight or the feeling of families being separated,' the president on Wednesday stated.
President Trump indicated that lobbying from his daughter Ivanka, who showed him pictures of the caged and kenneled children, and wife Melania had caused him to have a change in position. 'Ivanka feels very strongly about it. My wife feels very strongly about it. I think anybody with a hear feels very strongly about it,' he said.

Immediately after her father signed the order, Ivanka made her first public comments on the matter.

'Thank you @POTUS for taking critical action ending family separation at our border,' she said. 'Congress must now act + find a lasting solution that is consistent with our shared values; the same values that so many come here seeking as they endeavour to create a better life for their families.'

The president said Congress would have to take action - and that he still wants his border wall funded.   

'And also, there may be some litigation. We’re also wanting to go through Congress. We will be going through Congress. We’re working on a much more comprehensive bill,' he said. 'And ultimately, we want to see it done right, and it will be done right.' 

Of the order he'd just signed, he said, 'You're gonna have a lot of happy people.' 

'People haven't dealt with it, and we are dealing with it...This is one that has gone on for many decades. So we're keeping families together, and this will solve that problem,' he stated.

'At the same time, we are keeping a very powerful border and it continues to be a zero-tolerance,' he added. 'We have zero tolerance for people that enter our country illegally.'

As Trump acknowledged, he did not end the 'zero tolerance' provision of his policy that requires the prosecution of all unlawful immigrants as criminals. His order merely authorizes DHS to hold families together while prosecution is pending. 

DHS will bear the costs of constructing facilities to house migrant parents and their children while their cases are being adjudicated. The order directs the attorney general to prioritize the cases as quickly as possible.

Trump also told Attorney General Jeff Sessions to put in a request with a U.S. District Court in California to modify a settlement agreement that would permit DHS under present resource constraints to detain illegal immigrant families together 'throughout the pendency of criminal proceedings for improper entry or any removal or other immigration proceedings.' 

The president tipped his hand earlier on Wednesday when he said that he would be signing something dealing with the issue as he spoke to reporters in the Cabinet room.

'I'm going to be signing an executive order in a little while before I go to Minnesota but, at the same time,' Trump said. 'I think you have to understand, we're keeping families together, but we have to keep our borders strong. We will be overrun with crime and with people that should not be in our country.' 

His Department of Homeland Security secretary was said to be drafting an order to end the child separation policy that's become a political albatross for the Trump administration. 

Via - Daily Mail