WASHINGTON _ The Trump administration is developing a plan that would give parents who are caught crossing the border illegally a difficult choice: Remain detained with their child in a large tent city or give up custody of their child, at least temporarily, according to two sources who have discussed the plans with administration officials.
The proposal is being considered as part of a hastily crafted solution to the problem of complying with President Donald Trump's executive order last week that ended his administration's policy of separating parents and children arrested at the border.
The idea is a way to side-step a major legal road block that prevents Trump from fully implementing his executive order to keep parents and children detained during their court proceedings. Current law prohibits the federal government from keeping children detained, even with their parents, in immigration detention for more than 20 days.
