Donald Trump has claimed the Obama administration originally separated immigrant families arriving at the border, and that he took decisive measures to end it — in spite of recent reports that the current president wants to bring the policy back after a court ruled it was illegal.

"Just so you understand, President Obama separated the children. Those cages that were shown — I think they were very inappropriate. They were built by President Obama's administration. Not by Trump," the president said during a meeting in the Oval Office. "President Obama had child separation. Take a look."

"I'm the one that stopped it," he said.

The comments come as top ranks of the US Department of Homeland Security have come under fire by the president, leading to the notable departures of secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Secret Service chief Randolph Alles.

Those departures have been seen as a shift for Mr Trump, who appears poised to crack down even harder on immigration issues than his previous approach to the issue.

‘Families belong together’ protests over Trump immigration policy Show all 8 1 /8 ‘Families belong together’ protests over Trump immigration policy ‘Families belong together’ protests over Trump immigration policy Mishawaka, Indiana AP ‘Families belong together’ protests over Trump immigration policy Washington DC AFP/Getty Images ‘Families belong together’ protests over Trump immigration policy New York Mayor Bill De Blasio speaks in Tornillo, Texas alongside the many other US mayors who have called for detained immigrant children to be reunited with their families AP ‘Families belong together’ protests over Trump immigration policy Albuquerque Mayor Tim Kelle leaves a teddy bear as a gift for detained immigrant children in Tornillo, Texas AP ‘Families belong together’ protests over Trump immigration policy Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti leave sandals as gifts for detained immigrant children in Tornillo, Texas AP ‘Families belong together’ protests over Trump immigration policy San Diego, California EPA ‘Families belong together’ protests over Trump immigration policy US embassy, Mexico City AFP/Getty Images ‘Families belong together’ protests over Trump immigration policy San Diego, California EPA

Just last week, for instance, Mr Trump floated the idea of getting rid of immigration judges in order to fix the American immigration system. Also last week, reports indicate that the president instructed Border Patrol agents to illegally turn immigrants away at the US-Mexico border.

The president's claim that Barack Obama's administration separated families is not a new one for the administration, and had been made by Ms Nielsen previously.

Those claims were hard to evaluate at the time, with DHS refusing to provide FactCheck.org with a breakdown of the number of separated families at the border during previous administrations.

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The separations are generally thought to have started after attorney general Jeff Sessions penned a memo introducing a so-called "zero tolerance" policy that mandated detention and prosecution for individuals who enter the United States illegally, even if they did so seeking asylum.

The policies led to major news coverage after images of the children began to be released publicly, leading to widespread condemnation and calls for an end to the policy.