Hello again. I'm Warren Olney. The Trump administration has been breaking up family,

separating adults from children when they show up at the Mexican border asking for asylum in the United States.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions says that's what's needed to guard against fraudulent asylum applications. But even some immigration

hardliners say it's going too far. Members of Congress have tried to determine how often it

happens, but details have been hard to come by. Now the New York Times has found data showing that at least 700 children have been separated from adults, claiming to be their parents. The first such reports, though, came from Loemi Creel of the Houston Chronicle. Welcome to our podcast. Thank you for having me. Tell us what you first discovered.

So last summer, federal public defenders along the southern border began reporting instances that their clients were telling them that they had no idea where their children were.

And so just to kind of back up a second, the White House, as you said, threatened last spring

to separate parents and children at the border, but ultimately backed off from it.

But in April, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered federal prosecutors to ramp up criminal

charges for crossing the border illegally.

So then last summer, attorneys at the border began increasingly reporting having parents

who were being prosecuted for the federal crime and had their children

taken away as a result because children are not allowed in federal prison.

Usually parents with small children who didn't have a history of criminal history or history

of entering the country legally weren't criminally prosecuted, but they were

either released or detained an immigrant detention with their children. But by criminally prosecuting

the parents that forces the removal of their children who must be placed in foster care

while the parents first go through their

criminal justice system.

Where are the children taken?

The children are taken to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is in charge of migrant

children.

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