Vile bigot and demagogue Donald "Rump" Trump said yesterday that family separations at the U.S. - Mexico border could still be a deterrent to immigration, despite widespread outrage earlier this year that forced him to reverse his administration's "zero tolerance" policy. Rump's comment comes as reports are surfacing that his staff is looking at holding immigrant families together in detention for 20 days, after which they'd be given a choice between staying with them indefinitely in detention, or give them up to detention centers where other family or guardians could seek custody.
Rump's "zero tolerance" policy caused the separation of approximately 2,600 children from their parent(s), including many infants and toddlers. What makes Rump's claim of deterrence a typical lie of his is that U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows that Rump's family separation policy barely changed the number of immigrant families crossing the border from May 6 to June 20 when the policy was in effect.
(photo: The iconic photo of a child and her mother at the border last spring. John Moore, Getty Images)
