The Department of Justice Inspector General confirmed in a report released today that the Trump Administration — and then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions in particular — knew its “zero-tolerance” policy would result in extensive family separation. The report called Sessions “a driving force” of the policy, which resulted in the separation of more than 3,000 children from their families. In response to the report, First Focus on Children President Bruce Lesley made the following statement:  

“Today’s report makes clear that the Trump Administration — and the Attorney General in particular — made a conscious decision to plow forward with tearing children from their parents, even though they had no coherent or even legal plan to care for the children or to reunite these families. Today, hundreds of families remain separated. We can only hope that such cruelty is behind us, that our government will right its wrongs, and that our country will once again step up to welcome families who share the American Dream.” 

– Bruce Lesley, President, First Focus on Children