What We Know: Family Separation And ‘Zero Tolerance’ At The Border

A photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows the interior of a CBP facility in McAllen, Texas, on Sunday. Immigration officials have separated thousands of families who crossed the border illegally.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Rio Grande Valley Sector via AP

Updated at 9:30 a.m. ET Wednesday

Since early May, 2,342 children have been separated from their parents after crossing the Southern U.S. border, according to the Department of Homeland Security, as part of a new immigration strategy by the Trump administration that has prompted widespread outcry.

Here’s what we know about the policy, its history and its effects: