NEW: Federal prosecutors who ran a 2017 family separation “pilot program” determined kids should be given a maturity test to confirm they could find their way back to parents on their own, DOJ memo obtained by @NBCNews says. With @JuliaEAinsley. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/officials-said-2017-separated-migrants-under-12-couldn-t-find-n1242439">https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/...
"The analysis focused on whether the child was mature enough to be separated... agents were to determine whether the child could effectively communicate where they were from, where they lived, their address, where they were going to, who they were to meet.” https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/officials-said-2017-separated-migrants-under-12-couldn-t-find-n1242439">https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/...
Despite this warning, hundreds of kids *under five* were separated in 2017 and 2018. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/officials-said-2017-separated-migrants-under-12-couldn-t-find-n1242439">https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/...
“The document says the district& #39;s participation in the pilot program in El Paso from April to December 2017 led to the separations of 303 families... [including] 11 children who under 1 year old, 22 who were 1 year old and 28 who were 2 years old.” https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/officials-said-2017-separated-migrants-under-12-couldn-t-find-n1242439">https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/...