Sessions announces zero tolerance policy, triggering family separations

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a zero tolerance policy on April 6, 2018, directing DOJ to criminally prosecute every adult crossing the southern border without authorization, including asylum seekers with children. Because criminal prosecution required adults to be held in federal jails not licensed for children, children were systematically separated from their parents. An HHS Inspector General report later found that thousands more children were separated than the government acknowledged, with separations beginning months before the formal announcement.