There is no official cut-off age on the books to prevent U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers from separating a young child or baby from his or her parent after a family unit is apprehended illegally entering the U.S. between a port of entry, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson.
“It’s up to the sectors because once everyone shows [and claims to be below] that age, everyone shows up under that age,” the DHS spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.
[Update: Trump signs executive order allowing joint family detention]
There are nine Border Patrol sectors on the southwest border between U.S. and Mexico. A Department of Justice spokesperson told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday afternoon the majority of family units are entering near El Paso, Texas, and the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, and sectors are not equally affected by the issue.
For example, Border Patrol chief for the Rio Grande Valley, Manuel Padilla Jr., is not separating children under the age of 5 unless the adult they are apprehended with is determined to pose a danger to the minor or who is not a family member, the DHS spokesperson confirmed, referring to a stance outlined in a report last week.
CBP has come under fire over the past week following allegations it took a breastfeeding-age baby away from its mother.
Last week, a DHS official told reporters, “We do not separate breastfeeding children from their parents. That does not exist. That is not a policy.”
That official could not define at what age a baby would be considered old enough to be separated from his or her mother.
[Related: Trump administration detaining babies, toddlers in ‘tender-age’ centers: Report]
DHS said any other cases of young children or babies being separated from adults was “for reasons not prosecutorial.”
“If we can’t obtain a familial relationship, human trafficking, safety of the child,” the official explained.
