Kirstjen Nielsen signed the note on the separation of children

As Secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen went to great lengths to argue that the government agency she ran had nothing to do with Trump's policy of separating immigrant children from their parents. the border. But according to a note that Nielsen personally signed, she was perfectly aware of the policy in place.

The memo was first reported by the Washington Post in April, shortly after it was signed by Nielsen, but was first published by Buzzfeed News tonight after being published by Open the Government and Project on Government Oversight.

At the height of the family separation crisis, Nielsen repeatedly and publicly claimed that the denial of child separation was not the fault of DHS, but rather the Democrats, the press and the advocacy groups.

But less than a month ago, on April 23, Nielsen received a memorandum that explicitly codified separation as part of her duties as Secretary of Homeland Security.

Here is the relevant part of the memo (emphasis ours):

The Secretary of Homeland Security has extensive legal authorities to fulfill her responsibility to enforce immigration laws. DHS could also authorize the separation of parents or legal guardians and minors detained in immigration detention centers so that the parent or legal guardian can be prosecuted under these authorities.

The note notes that under Jeff Sessions' Zero Tolerance Policy, promulgated on 6 April, anyone caught crossing the border illegally, even though it was planning to apply for asylum, can and should be prosecuted. It is specifically said that this may involve taking their children. As she signed the memo, it is fair to assume that Nielsen also read it. She knew what she was saying when she tweeted, "We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period. And she knew exactly what that allowed her department to do.

But taking children away from their parents is not great and creates a reaction from the public. The note notes that in the three weeks before writing, DHS apprehended about 450 family units, or UFAs, which it considers "inadmissible" at the border each day. Under Nielsen's policy, any of these family units could have been dismantled, her children taken away and perhaps even lost for good. DHS apparently ended the policy of separating children in July, but there are still 12,800 migrant children detained in the United States, with or without their families. And these are just the ones we know. At the height of the crisis, the government had 1,475 immigrant children. Just a few days ago, we discovered that 1,500 more children entered the United States this year and the government does not find them.

Nielsen tried to make all of this an exaggerated reaction, claiming that it was the press or the advocacy groups that were trying to turn that thing into something it was not. We did not need this memo to tell us it was a lie, but it sure does not hurt.