What President Trump Said

“President Obama had separation. I’m the one that brought them together.”

— in remarks to reporters on Wednesday

False.

Mr. Trump’s immigration policies were in the news again on Wednesday with the administration’s release of a regulation that would allow it to detain indefinitely migrant families who cross the border illegally.

Questioned about the new policy, which is sure to be challenged in court, Mr. Trump continued his pattern of blaming “loopholes,” nonexistent laws and former presidents for his own administration’s practice of separating migrant families who cross illegally. President Barack Obama, in particular, has been wrongly cast as the instigator of the practice by Mr. Trump at least two dozen other times.

Under Mr. Trump, the Justice Department announced its “zero-tolerance policy” for illegally entering the United States in April 2018, describing it as “new” and in response to an increase in unauthorized border crossings that spring.

The policy called for the criminal prosecution of everyone who enters the country illegally. As a result, nearly 3,000 children were forcibly separated from adult family members who were detained under the new policy, which multiple top Trump officials have characterized as a deterrent.