The “Zero Tolerance Policy” to Separate Migrant Families: Context and Discursive Strategies to Foster Exclusion

During April and May of 2018, the Trump administration promoted and implemented a family separation approach designed to discourage irregular migration flows along the southern border, also known as the “Zero Tolerance Policy” (ZTP). Prior to its termination on 20th June of that same year, at least 2700 children had been separated from their parents. According to different sources, the parents of over 600 children had been “lost” or were still missing by the end of 2020. In this chapter, we contextualize this “zero tolerance” approach to immigration in the wider setting of the U.S.-Mexico border and the deterrence practices deployed by the Trump administration. We analyze how the Trump administration justified and reacted to reporting of the family separation policy in the media and explore its stated aims. We show how the administration changed the discourse it used and its justification for the policy on an almost daily basis when reacting to protests, the news cycle, and statements from politicians. From a human rights perspective, by analyzing this family separation policy, we identify how elements of racism and the criminalization of immigration seriously undermine not only people’s dignity but also the protection of the right to family life.