WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump has signed an executive order meant to keep migrant families at the border together.

  • Executive order would keep families together
  • Ends migrant family separation policy
  • Zero-tolerance prosecution policy stays in place
  • RELATED: Read the executive order

The order would end the controversial family separation policy currently in place, but the zero-tolerance prosecution of illegal immigrants would continue.

"So we're going to have strong, very strong borders, but we're going to keep the families together," the president said. "I didn't like the sight or the feeling of families being separated."

The order says that the secretary of homeland security must, as permitted by law and availability of money, maintain custody of families caught entering the country illegally.

The secretary of defense is being directed to provide facilities for the housing and care of families, and the other departments shall provide services as well. 

Homeland Security is not required to keep a family together, under the order, if it's believed the parent poses a risk to the child's welfare.

The executive order also asks to change the Flores settlement aggreement, which says the U.S. can't hold immigrant children longer than 20 days. The administration would want to keep them longer so they can stay with parents.

There is no law that would require the separation of families who try to cross the border illegally. The policy stemmed from the zero-tolerance prosecution of illegal immigrants, put in place some months ago by the U.S. Attorney General, Jeff Sessions.

Technically, the president did not have to sign an executive order to stop the separation, according to our Spectrum News Networks team in Washington, DC.

There are questions now about what Homeland Security will do with the families that cross over, and also how the government will reunite children with families.

Vote still expected Thursday on immigration bills

It comes as House Republicans prepare for votes on immigration.

The House Republican bill needs at least 218 votes to pass. The House has 235 Republicans but it is not clear if all of them will support the bill.

Under this bill, the families would be held together in Homeland Security facilities while adults await legal hearings.

The bill also aims to grant DACA recipients a pathway to citizenship and provides funding to build a border wall. 

House Democrats on Wednesday said they would not approve any bill coming from House Republicans, saying there was bad language in the bill.

 

What about those already separated?

In Central Florida, immigration attorneys say they are actively working to reunite families in the region with relatives who were separated at the border. However, they are concerned that the executive order will not help those who have already been separated.

“There aren’t really any procedures in place to reunite these families," said attorney Carlos Colombo. "In fact, even if the families are deported, they aren’t sure of how they are going to go about reuniting the child.”

While the president's order will prevent families from being separated in the near future, it’s still unclear what will happen to those who have already been taken away from their parents, who Colombo says in many cases left everything behind to seek asylum and legal visa’s in the US. 

“Folks say 'well, they should get in line.' But for most of these individuals, there is no line," Columbo explained. "Even for those who have money and have resources, the 'line' can take years and years."