President Donald Trump is planning to sign an executive order to put an end to his administration’s practice of separating children and parents at the United States-Mexico border, the New York Times reports.
The Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy has resulted in the separation of more than 2,300 migrant children from their parents at the border in recent weeks.
“We’re going to be signing an executive order in a little while,” Trump said Wednesday, according to the Times. “We’ve got to be keeping families together.”
Congress has been pursuing several paths to end family separation. Two broad immigration bills are scheduled for a vote this week—both put forth by Republicans, but one a compromise meant to appeal to Democrats—but neither is expected to pass.
Two new bills that are geared specifically toward ending family separation have also been introduced: Senator Dianne Feinstein’s (D-California) Keep Families Together Act, which has full support from Senate Democrats, and Senator Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) Protect Kids and Parents Act.
But an executive order presents the simplest path to ending the practice, which has created an uproar and prompted protests across the country. Trump’s order is not expected to end the “zero tolerance” policy. But it will put an end to family separation—and, the administration likely hopes, the criticism it’s received for the practice.
