Trump Wants to Replace Family Separation With Indefinite Detention. He Likely Can't.
President Donald Trump is trying to to end the family separation crisis he created by detaining families together—indefinitely. But he likely won’t be able to do that for now, thanks to a 2016 court ruling that requires him to release children quickly. Instead, the outcome of the executive order he signed on Wednesday could end up looking a lot more like a retreat for the president.
Over the past week, Trump repeatedly claimed that only Congress had the power to address the crisis, but amid a growing uproar, he was forced to do so himself. Initial reports suggested that Trump would ignore the court decision and impose indefinite family detention. But Wednesday’s executive order proceeds more cautiously, instructing Attorney General Jeff Sessions to try to get a California federal court to reverse itself and allow families to be held indefinitely.
It’s unclear why the court would do so. If the court sticks with its decision, Trump will have to decide whether to release the children while the parents remain detained—causing another round of separations—or release families together, something he has decried as “catch and release” and promised to end.
Alternatively, he could flout the court and try to force it to issue an injunction to stop the administration’s indefinite detentions. The injunction would allow him once again to portray judges as the roadblocks to realizing his agenda. But the Justice Department says it will not ignore the court decision and the 1997 Flores settlement agreement it is based on.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/06/trump-wants-to-replace-family-separation-with-indefinite-detention-he-likely-cant/
So, they knew the EO was illegal when they signed it.
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