New data has revealed that the Trump administration had begun family separations in Yuma, Arizona, months before what had originally been reported. Under a program called the Criminal Consequence Initiative, Border Patrol agents began family separations as early as May 2017. This program also allowed for the prosecution of first-time border crossers, including parents who entered the U.S. with their families. The data available shows that 234 families were separated in Yuma between the months of June and December that year, though actual figures are most likely greater. Some of the families separated under this program still have not been reunited, four years later. In addition, the children separated in Yuma during this period were as young as 10 months old. Biden administration investigations on Trump-era family separations are finding that the scope and geographic breadth of the separations are much greater than was previously understood.
July 9
July 9, 2021
