Trump 'just wants to separate families,' because border security is 'his issue,' according to senior Trump officials

Trump and Kirstjen Nielsen at a Cabinet meeting
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

President Trump did not just clash with outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen over the legality and effectiveness of reinstating the migrant family-separation policy he ended last summer amid bipartisan outrage, as NBC News reported Monday morning. He wanted to expand "zero tolerance" to all migrant families who traveled over the U.S.-Mexico border, legally or illegally, in the U.S. or at the border, CNN reports, citing multiple sources.

Nielsen noted that federal courts had blocked family separation and White House staffers argued it would be another unmitigated PR disaster, CNN reports. But Trump said he thinks separating families is an effective deterrent. "He just wants to separate families," a senior administration told CNN.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.