Regarding what to do with the immigrant families once they are detained, Democrats should not assume wide support for the position taken by Sen. Kamala Harris of California — essentially, release them inside the United States pending a hearing. While most polling shows that Americans view legal immigration as a positive thing for the United States, a sizable portion of Americans would likely prefer to keep the families together before deporting them to their country of origin — as opposed to releasing them inside the United States. Most voters welcome people coming here legally, but believe illegal immigration is a serious problem.

Being candid about Trump’s decision to engage in a policy leading to family separation, surely the White House wishes it could have that one back. The President wound up reversing course via executive order after days of painful images and audio recordings created a public outcry. Shifting explanations from various administration officials made the position untenable, and the President smartly put an end to it last Wednesday, although Trump can take solace in former Department of Homeland Security Director Jeh Johnson’s admission on Fox News on Sunday that the Obama administration did, in fact, detain some children alone.