The Justice Department’s inspector general found that the 2018 zero-tolerance policy prioritized prosecuting adults referred by border authorities without adequately addressing the resulting separation of parents and children. Senior departmental leadership understood prosecutions would separate families; planning and coordination for children and reunification were deficient.[1]
HHS’s inspector general reported that the full number of separated children was unknown because thousands might have been separated before the court-defined group was identified. GAO likewise found agencies had not planned adequately for the increase and struggled to identify family relationships and coordinate reunification.[2][3]
Families can be separated under several administrations for individualized reasons, including child safety or a parent’s prosecution. That general history does not erase the specific policy expansion and failures these audits documented. Equally, counts from one report and date should not be recycled as a current tally of children still separated in October 2026.[1][2][3]