Society

Brazilians affected by the family separation crisis at U.S. border

child family separation u.s. border
‘Zero tolerance’ policy led to family separation at the U.S. border. Photo: David Peinado Romero/Shutterstock

The U.S. government has enforced a now-infamous “zero tolerance” policy on immigrants who illegally cross the border. The Trump administration has decided to prosecute adult asylum seekers as criminals – which has led to their separation from their children. Since October 2017, at least 2,700 children have been taken from their parents (including 49 Brazilians), with more than two-thirds of these cases happening over the past six weeks.

After an enormous backlash – even from conservative sectors of American society – U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to end family separation. However, Mr. Trump has not backed down from his “zero tolerance” stance, instead allowing families to keep their children in detention centers while they...

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