Trump Signs Executive Order: ‘We’re Going to Have Strong Borders but We’re Going to Keep Families Together’

Trump Signs Executive Order: ‘We’re Going to Have Strong Borders but We’re Going to Keep Families Together’

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will end a policy that separates families at the border.

“We’re going to keep families together but we still have to maintain toughness or our country will be overrun by people, by crime, by all of the things that we don’t stand for and that we don’t want,” Trump said Wednesday, when he announced that he would sign the order.

The order will end the separation of migrant families who had been split by the policy. Under the new order, the families will be detained together while they wait for court dates.

“We’re going to have strong — very strong — borders, but we are going to keep the families together,” Trump said. “I didn’t like the sight or the feeling of families being separated.”

The executive order says the new directive will be to “maintain custody of alien families during the pendency of any criminal improper entry or immigration proceedings involving their members.”

Trump’s reversal on the policy came after facing a firestorm of criticism about the policy.

In a tweet this week, Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, thanked her father for the change.

“Thank you @POTUS for taking critical action ending family separation at our border. Congress must now act + find a lasting solution that is consistent with our shared values;the same values that so many come here seeking as they endeavor to create a better life for their families,” she said.

However, some critics say the executive order isn’t enough.

“This Executive Order doesn’t fix the crisis,” said Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., on Twitter. “Indefinitely detaining children with their families in camps is inhumane and will not make us safe.

The executive order will also not reunite the more than 2,000 children who were separated from their parents since the policy was implemented.

“When will they see their parents again?” she said. “They must be reunited immediately.”

Photo: President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House June 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. Trump spoke extensively about current immigration issues during the meeting. 

Photo courtesy: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Publication date: June 21, 2018