Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien

JUNE 23, 2018 (2x40)

Air date: Jun 23, 2018

This week on Matter of Fact, the Trump administration announced that it will stop criminally prosecuting migrant families illegally crossing the border, although officials say the “zero tolerance” policy is still in effect. However, families still be detained if a federal court amends the Flores agreement, as the Trump administration has asked it to do. Soledad O’Brien sits down with retired immigration judge Paul Wickham Schmidt to discuss what the law says about family separations and applying for asylum. Plus, the administration has yet to lay out an official plan to reunite families previously separated. Could the U.S. make a return to orphanages? Charles Nelson, a professor of pediatrics at Harvard University, joins Soledad O’Brien to discuss the history of orphanages in the United States and the psychological impact of impersonal care. And, a bipartisan group of lawmakers from partisan extremes says they can fix America’s crumbling infrastructure, pay down its overwhelming deficit, and do it all without raising taxes. Reps. Mike Kelly (R-PA), a member of the conservative Republican Study Committee, and Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO), a member of the liberal Congressional Black Caucus, discuss why they decided to work together and how infrastructure projects can revitalize some of America’s poorest cities.