Jeff Sessions Announces "Zero Tolerance" Policy Designed to Separate Families

On April 6, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a “zero tolerance” policy for unauthorized border crossings that was explicitly designed to separate children from their parents as a deterrent to asylum seekers and migrants. The policy marked a deliberate escalation from targeted enforcement to systematic family separation, implementing what human rights organizations would condemn as government-sanctioned child abuse.

The Policy Announcement

Sessions signed a memorandum directing federal prosecutors to “adopt immediately a zero-tolerance policy for all offenses” related to improper entry into the United States, stating that “this zero-tolerance policy shall supersede any existing policies.” The directive mandated criminal prosecution of all adults who crossed the border without authorization, regardless of whether they were traveling with children or seeking asylum.

In speeches to law enforcement in Arizona and California on May 7, 2018, Sessions made the family separation intent explicit: “If you cross this border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you. It’s that simple… If you are smuggling a child, then we will prosecute you and that child will be separated from you as required by law.”

He later stated the deterrence goal directly: “Because we send a message, a bad message to those crossing illegally if you bring children you can avoid prosecution and deportation.”

Systematic Separation as Policy

Unlike previous administrations that separated families only in exceptional circumstances (such as when adults faced serious criminal charges or when parentage was in doubt), the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy made separation automatic and universal. Sessions deployed 35 additional prosecutors and 18 immigration judges to the southwest border specifically to implement mass family separations.

The Department of Justice Inspector General later confirmed that Sessions and other officials knew the policy would result in widespread family separations. According to a 2021 DOJ IG report, “former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions knew his ‘zero tolerance’ policy on illegal entry along the Southwest border in 2018 would separate children from their parents.”

The Cruelty Was the Point

The policy’s architects, particularly senior adviser Stephen Miller, viewed deliberate cruelty to children as an effective deterrent to asylum seekers fleeing violence in Central America. By making the act of seeking protection in the United States result in traumatic separation from children—including infants and toddlers—the administration hoped to discourage migration.

Children as young as four months old were forcibly taken from parents, with no system in place to track families or facilitate reunification. Audio recordings later revealed children crying for their parents in detention facilities while guards mocked them. Medical professionals documented psychological trauma to separated children equivalent to torture under international law.

Legal and Moral Condemnation

The policy violated international human rights law, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and international prohibitions on torture. The UN Human Rights Office called it “government-sanctioned child abuse.” Physicians for Human Rights documented lasting psychological trauma to separated children equivalent to torture.

During the two and a half months the policy remained officially in effect (April-June 2018), more than 3,000 children were separated from their families. However, a later HHS Inspector General report revealed that separations had actually begun in summer 2017 as a pilot program, affecting thousands more children than publicly disclosed.

The zero-tolerance policy became one of the Trump administration’s most internationally condemned actions, drawing comparisons to historical atrocities and demonstrating the administration’s willingness to weaponize child welfare for immigration enforcement.