In a recurring theme for the Trump administration, no one seems to know exactly what's going on with immigrants seeking asylum at the border. On the one hand, the Justice Department is reiterating a "zero tolerance" policy of immediately detaining every person coming across the border. On the other, the people doing the detaining through the Department of Homeland Security are saying "nope."
Kevin K. McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, said he had told border agents not to refer families to the Justice Department for prosecution until the two agencies can agree on a policy that would allow parents to be prosecuted without separating them from their children.
Because Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not have enough detention space for families, the immediate impact of the decision will be that many families will be quickly released, with a promise to return for a court date at some point in the future.
During Monday’s press briefing, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said essentially that yes, "zero tolerance" is still the policy, but that not everyone can be held. "We’re not changing the policy. We’re simply out of resources," she said. Meanwhile, Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the "president has made this clear, we are going to prosecute those adults who came here illegally."
Except where they can't and won't and aren't, because "the zero tolerance policy has been enforced in dramatically different ways, depending on whether border communities have the resources to detain and prosecute new waves of immigrants." Business as usual in Trumpland.