‘We Do Not Separate Babies From Adults’: DHS Denies Allegation It ‘Ripped’ Breastfeeding Baby From Mother

Department of Homeland Security officials on Friday flatly denied a widely reported allegation that border authorities forcibly separated a breastfeeding baby from her mother while she was awaiting prosecution for entering the country illegally.

“We do not separate babies from adults,” a DHS official told reporters during a background briefing. “It’s a bright line.”

CNN first reported that an illegal immigrant from Honduras claimed federal authorities took her daughter while she breastfed the child at an immigration detention center in McAllen, Texas, on Tuesday. The CNN report was picked up by several national media outlets, including the Huffington Post, The Daily Beast and Vox, sparking further condemnation of the Trump administration’s policy of separating migrant families caught crossing the border illegally.

The CNN report did not quote the mother herself, but rather an attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project who had reportedly interviewed the woman. A Customs and Border Protection spokesman denied the allegations in a statement to CNN on Wednesday. . .

Also Friday, the Department of Justice confirmed that 1,995 migrant children were separated from 1,940 adults from April 19 through May 31. The adults in that group were prosecuted for illegal entry, immigration violations, and in some cases, other criminal conduct. DOJ officials did not release a breakdown of the children’s ages or the charges brought against the adults. (Read more from “‘We Do Not Separate Babies From Adults’: DHS Denies Allegation It ‘Ripped’ Breastfeeding Baby From Mother” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.