Lawmakers vow to end immigrant family separations

Republicans are scrambling for a legislative fix to the Trump administration’s policy of separating immigrant families at the border. Current law prevents immigration officials from detaining children with their parents. Previous administrations got around that by releasing parents and children caught trying to enter the country illegally. But when Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a new “zero tolerance” policy toward immigrants, under which all cases would be referred for prosecution, he warned the government would begin detaining parents and placing their children in separate facilities. “Congress alone can fix it,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen insisted during a Monday briefing at the White House.

The growing outcry against the new approach has galvanized lawmakers to find a solution. “I don’t think the answer to family separation is to not enforce the law. I think the answer to family separation is: Don’t separate families while you’re enforcing the law,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters. “It’s all within our power, and people have to overcome their desire to preserve an issue to campaign on.”

President Donald Trump will meet with Republicans on Capitol Hill late Tuesday to discuss two bills proposed in the House that would implement broader immigration policy fixes. But neither appears to have enough support to pass. If disagreement among conservative and moderate factions of the party stalls those proposals, lawmakers could take action on just the family detention policy issue. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who leads the conservative Freedom Caucus, has proposed a “backup proposal” in the House, and several senators, including Republican Ted Cruz of Texas, are backing similar measures in the upper chamber.