Trump Signs Order To End Family Separations

Accompanied by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., President Trump arrives at a meeting with House Republicans at the U.S. Capitol Tuesday.

Alex Wong / Getty Images

Updated at 5:18 p.m. ET

President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to end his controversial policy that has resulted in thousands of family separations and brought criticism from Democrats and Republicans.

“We’re going to keep families together but we still have to maintain toughness or our country will be overrun by people, by crime, by all of the things that we don’t stand for and that we don’t want,” Trump said Wednesday morning, when he announced that he would sign the order.