Mike Blake / Reuters
Criminal prosecutions for adults who arrive at the U.S. border with children have been suspended. Kevin McAleenan, the commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said Monday that immediately after President Trump signed an executive order to bring an end to the policy of separating children from their migrant parents, he directed field officers to stop prosecuting adults who attempt to cross the border with kids. Those prosecutions were the mechanism the government was using to take children from their parents and place them in detention centers. McAleenan said no category of adult would be exempt from criminal prosecution, but from now on the Border Patrol will only refer parents to the Justice Department if they have a prior criminal record or if a child’s welfare was in danger. “In accordance with the executive order, I directed the temporary suspension of prosecutions for families in that category while we work through a process with [the Department of Justice] where we can maintain family unity while enforcing prosecution efforts,” McAleenan said.