Recission of Zero Tolerance Policy

On January 26, 2021, Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson issued a memorandum, rescinding the “Zero Tolerance” enforcement policy enacted by President Trump. The “Zero Tolerance” policy required prosecuting adults crossing the border illegally for illegal entry. Since children cannot be detained with their parents, the policy resulted in family separation. More than 5,500 children were separated from their parents at the U.S-Mexico border during the Trump Administrated, and many remain separated today.

A task force led by DHS Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, will focus on reuniting parents and children who remain apart because of the “Zero Tolerance” policy. President Biden commented, “We’re going to work to undo the moral and national shame of the previous administration that literally, not figuratively, ripped children from the arms of their families, their mothers and fathers, at the border and with no plan, none whatsoever, to reunify the children.”

AILA – Acting Attorney General Rescinds Zero Tolerance Policy