President Trump ends family separation at the border

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – After a week of pleading from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday ending his administration’s zero-tolerance policy that separate undocumented immigrant families at the border.

“You’re going to have a lot of happy people,” President Trump said as he signed the amendment to the policy.

“This is not who we are as a country to separate and tear children apart from their parents,” said U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly. “There is absolutely no conflict, none, between safe and secure and strong borders and the ability of families to be kept together.”

The president says his actions Wednesday are preemptive, and now the ball is in Congress’ court.

“Well I’m actually hopeful that the president will take ‘yes’ for an answer,” said Sen. Donnelly. “And what I mean by that is just a few months ago, the president told a group of senators, (and I was one of them — about 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans) ‘if you come up with legislation, I will sign it.’”

There have been 68 senate bills on immigration introduced in the senate under the 115th Congress.

Donnelly says he voted to support border funding a wall funding three times.