Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
HHS, Homeland Security Were Taken By Surprise When 'Zero Tolerance' Policy Was Implemented, Report Finds
Officials at the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services weren鈥檛 given advance notice of the Trump administration鈥檚 鈥渮ero tolerance鈥 immigration policy, leaving them struggling to accommodate children separated from their parents, according to a new government report. (Duehren, 10/24)
Officials from DHS and HHS told investigators they were unaware of the memo before it was released, and did not take specific steps in advance of the memo to plan for the separation of parents and children or potential increase in the number of children who would be referred to HHS鈥檚 Office of Refugee Resettlement. The 鈥渮ero tolerance鈥 policy called for the criminal prosecution of all adult migrants who were detained after trying to cross the country鈥檚 southern border. Any children brought across the border were separated from their parents, deemed to be 鈥渦naccompanied,鈥 and detained by HHS in separate facilities sometimes hundreds of miles from their parents. (Weixel, 10/24)
Meanwhile, in other news聽鈥
The nation鈥檚 largest provider of shelters for immigrant children has surrendered two of its licenses in Arizona following a state investigation that found the organization didn鈥檛 have fingerprint records for some employees. (Galvan, 10/24)