The United States has temporarily stopped launching criminal prosecutions of migrants who illegally enter the country with children.
According to news agency Associated Press, Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Kevin McAleenan told reporters in Texas that the prosecution referrals were suspended last week.
He said, it followed an order last week by President Donald Trump calling for an end to migrant family separations.
The CBP Chief said, parents cannot be prosecuted if officials no longer intend to separate them from their children, who are legally not allowed to be kept in adult detention facilities.
He said, CBP and the Department of Justice must figure out how to prosecute the parents without splitting them from their children.
Mr Trump had, last week, signed an executive order to keep together immigrant families who have been detained at the border with Mexico.
Source: AIR