Dave Winer says that there’s a “small” justification for the separation of children from their parents when processing asylum claims from illegal immigrants (here)

From what I’ve read and listened to, prior administrations had imperfect, but morally better solutions that were, in addition, more efficient. Migrants would be processed through the civil courts for what is a misdemeanor under the law, tracked electronically and required to check in with the court. 99.8% checked in as required, and made their court appearances.

Treating the misdemeanor as a federal offense and handing migrant families to US Marshals to deal with creates the problem. There are not the resources for the Marshal service, nor the necessary number of immigration judges, to make it work. The Kaiser has stated he has no interest in rectifying this lack of resources.

Given that the prior systems worked better, what reason can there be to discard them? Only that given before the country voiced its opposition: to act as a deterrent to asylum seekers. Sounds a lot like a mobster leaning over and saying “it’d be a shame if something happened to your kids …”