The Trump administration says 90 per cent of children entering the U-S from countries like Mexico are unaccompanied minors and the current policy acts as a deterrent to people-smugglers.
But criticism of the policy has intensified in recent days after video emerged of children being kept in concrete-floored cages in detention centres.
The First Lady Melania Trump has weighed in on the debate saying she "hates" to see families separated at the border.
Journalist Giampiero Gramaglia reports.
