The Trump Administration started a "zero tolerance" policy on May 7, 2018, under which any person crossing the United States border may be charged with a federal misdemeanor.

"[5] However, immigration rights activists have reported that children accompanying adults have been verified to be members of families, not part of a child trafficking scheme as suggested by Sessions.

[10] Sessions also announced that the United States would no longer accept asylum applications for migrants who are victims of domestic abuse or gang violence.

[11] Inspired by the viral photo of a crying two-year-old girl looking up at her mother, on June 16, 2018, a California couple started a fund-raising campaign on Facebook named "Reunite an immigrant parent with their child" with a goal of raising $1,500 (~$1,820 in 2023).

This has caused many in Trump's administration to rally against "fake news;" White House Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders tweeted that the Democrats and media "exploited this photo of a little girl to push their own agenda.

[30] The protest started on the steps of the US Customs and Border Protection Building in Washington, D.C.[30] Luis Gutierrez, Joe Crowley, John Lewis, Pramila Jayapal, Jan Schakowsky, Al Green, Raúl Grijalva, Judy Chu, Adriano Espaillat, and Jimmy Gomez were joined by hundreds of activists and actor John Cusack.

[31][32] Democratic politicians in Texas, including Beto O'Rourke and Veronica Escobar, organized the march with a group called the Latino Victory Project.

[33] Joe Kennedy III, Veronica Escobar, Lupe Valdez, Mary González, César Blanco, Lina Ortega, and Gina Ortiz-Jones were also in attendance.

[38] On June 18, dozens of protesters showed up to demonstrate outside the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans while Attorney General Jeff Sessions was speaking.

[40] On July 4, 2018, a female member of the group Rise and Resist, Therese Patricia Okoumou, climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty to protest the separation of migrant families, and stayed there for nearly three hours.

[41] Tourists were evacuated from Liberty Island while New York City Police Officers responded to the scene, climbing 100 ft (30 m) to reach her.

Okoumou was charged with trespassing, interference with government agency functions, and disorderly conduct in a Manhattan Court on July 5.

[42] US Attorney Geoffrey Berman released a statement that Okoumou "staged a dangerous stunt that alarmed the public and endangered her own life and the lives of the NYPD officers who responded...".

[45][46] Protests took place on several dates in June in numerous cities, including Washington, D.C., Boston, Fort Wayne, Seattle, San Francisco, New York,[46] Cleveland,[47] and St.

"[54] Protesters blocked streets around the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building as they demanded, "abolish ICE," the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.