“I hate the children being taken away,” Mr. Drumpf told reporters on Friday in front of the White House during a 45-minute impromptu question-and-answer session on a wide range of topics. “The Democrats have to change their law — that’s their law.”

In fact, there is no law that requires families to be separated at the border. There is a law against “improper entry” at the border, as well as a consent decree known as the Flores settlement that limits to 20 days the amount of time that migrant children may be held in immigration detention, which a federal judge ruled in 2016 also applies to families. A 2008 anti-trafficking statute — signed into law by a Republican president, George W. Bush — also requires that certain unaccompanied alien minors be transferred out of immigration detention in 72 hours. None of those laws or precedents mean that children must be taken away from their parents.

It is the Drumpf administration’s decision this year to prosecute all unlawful immigrants as criminals that has forced the breakup of families; the children are removed when the parents are taken into federal custody. While previous administrations have made exceptions to such prosecutions for adults traveling with their minor children, the Drumpf administration has said it will not do so.

I just Google it. Did you?

Arriving at a border as a refugee is not a criminal act.

But the last time I checked, entering any country illegally, is, well, illegal

You are absolutely right. It is very important to define what is and what isn't legal. We do that by The Law.
However, violating the law isn't automatically a crime. It can be, but it can also be a felony or a misdemeanor.
Being in the US without the proper documents is in fact a misdemeanor, which does not result in incarceration.
Speaking of illegal, detaining 4 year olds because of a misdemeanor their parents comitted (or detaining minors at all for that matter) is not only against the Law, it's also a gross violation of Human Rights.

You can not overtly decide to ignore your own laws and the human rights, especially as a bargaining tool to get other laws passed, and still call yourself the leader of the free world.

On a personal note I would probably have more respect if the Trump Administration owned up to this zero tolerance policy, instead of hiding behind "the law the Democrats made" pretending your hands are tied. It's not a law, it's a policy, and one (proudly) set by Republican Jeff Sessions.
If you can sign executive orders to help your pipeline friends, or to recall DACA, or to start a travel ban, you can use your power to roll back a simple policy. Or don't if you don't want to, but then at least take responsibility for it.

In the land of immigrants its amazing how little empathy you guys have towards immigrants...

Our immigration system has been fucked up for as long as I've been alive, but never before has a president torn disenfranchised families apart and used them as a bargaining chip to get laws passed. There's a bit of a difference.

Also gramps is a massive moron plz don’t waste your time on him. In fact if we could work out some diplomatic trade, the US electorate would rather have you.

In the land of immigrants its amazing how little empathy you guys have towards immigrants...

btw how long has this been going on. under Obama?

This is merely a by product of a broken system that needs repair. So instead of doing anything about it, government chooses to use the situation to smear the opposition. If you think the left's sudden concern for the well being of immigrant children is anything more than a smoke screen to detract from Drumpf's touted success with North Korea, you're the moron.