This statement can be attributed to Olivia Golden, the executive director of the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP).

We are in the middle of a humanitarian crisis that is solely of President Trump’s making. He chose to adopt the recent “zero-tolerance” policy at our borders that is ripping children from their parents. He and his administration have shown their arrogance over the last few days by digging in their heels in the face of traumatic, heart-wrenching images and sounds of immigrant children being torn from their families. 

After days of public outcry over what’s happening at the border, the president late this afternoon hastily issued an executive order to end the family separation policy, but that doesn’t remove the harm to children. Rather, it would incarcerate them along with their parents. 

Children simply don’t belong in jails. As we shared in our report Baby Jails Are Not Child Care, the practice of family detention has proven ineffective, extremely costly, and harmful to children. In addition to impeding children’s healthy development, family detention damages the relationship between parents and children by undermining parental authority. It also compromises the ability of mothers and children to access legal representation and counsel for their asylum hearings.

The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) does not support this policy. Instead, the federal government should offer alternatives to detention and keep children with families and in communities. 

CLASP has documented the harm of immigration policies and actions on immigrants and their children. Congress knows what it needs to do: demand that President Trump immediately stop detaining children and their families and ensure the safety and wellbeing of asylum-seeking children and families.