Court settlement would bar separating migrant families as Trump did

The Biden administration on Monday agreed to a court settlement that would bar U.S. authorities from prosecuting migrant parents traveling with children for illegally entering the United States, a practice used by the Trump administration that provoked widespread outrage.

If approved by a judge, this provision in the proposed settlement would remain in effect for eight years, preventing an administration during that time from restoring a “zero-tolerance” prosecution policy. That Trump policy forced the separation of thousands of parents and children at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2018, drawing worldwide condemnation from politicians and religious leaders amid reports of crying children and distraught parents desperate to reunite their families.