As the White House and lawmakers try to pinpoint who is to blame for children being separated from their families at the border, there is also a growing pressure for immediate action.

  • Florida's Marco Rubio, Bill Nelson want to keep families together
  • Dianne Feinstein's, Ted Cruz's plans include keeping children, parents together

Democrats argue that President Donald Trump could end his zero-tolerance policy that has led to the family separation.

The White House says it is just following the law and are pointing to Democrats to fix it.

Trump's meeting late Tuesday afternoon with House Republicans comes as lawmakers in both parties are up in arms over the administration's "zero tolerance" approach to illegal border crossings.

Under the policy, all unlawful crossings are referred for prosecution -- a process that moves adults to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and sends many children to facilities run by the Department of Health and Human Services. Under the previous administration, such families were usually referred for civil deportation proceedings, not requiring separation.

Nearly 2,000 children were separated from their families over a six-week period in April and May.

There are currently two plans to put an end to child separation.

The first plan was introduced by Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Friday, June 8. It now has support of all Democratic senators, but needs at least 10 Republicans to pass.

Feinstein's plan prohibits the removal of migrant children from their parents or legal guardians except in certain circumstances.

The other plan was laid out by Republican U.S. Ted Cruz on Monday.

Cruz's plan aims to speed up the prosecution to under 14 days and would keep families together in the process. 

Florida's two U.S. senators have spoken out about the separation of parents and children. 

 

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is calling on the Trump administration to put an end to the zero-tolerance policy and said he is also a co-sponsor of Feinstein's bill.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.