Sessions announces zero-tolerance policy, triggering the family separation crisis

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a "zero tolerance" policy on April 6, 2018, directing federal prosecutors to criminally charge every adult crossing the border illegally — including asylum seekers — which automatically separated children from parents placed in criminal custody. Over the following six weeks, DHS separated over 2,654 children from their parents at the southern border. Nationwide outcry and litigation forced President Trump to sign an executive order halting separations on June 20, 2018, though reunification of families took years and thousands remained separated.