Indeed, leaders such as Republican senator and 2008 GOP presidential nominee John McCain have chimed in, blasting the family separation policy as an "affront" to American decency.

 

But that isn't stopping Trump. Just five months away from the midterms, Trump on Tuesday reiterated his support for the policy, tweeting that Democrats are the problem, rather than his policy.

 

"We must always arrest people coming into our Country illegally. Of the 12,000 children, 10,000 are being sent by their parents on a very dangerous trip, and only 2,000 are with their parents, many of whom have tried to enter our Country illegally on numerous occasions," he posted on social media Tuesday.

 

"Democrats are the problem. They don't care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our Country, like MS-13," Trump wrote, referring to the infamous and violent gang from El Salvador.

 

"They can't win on their terrible policies, so they view them as potential voters!" Trump said of Democrats.

 

Not everyone, however, agrees that media reports are telling the entire story, and some groups say the story is not so simple.

 

In an email to reporters, the Center for Immigration Studies said that border apprehensions of adults bringing children with them "skyrocketed during the (former U.S. President Barack) Obama administration, from about 15,000 in Fiscal Year 2013 ... to more than 75,000 in FY 2017."

 

"Before the Obama years, it was rare for a parent to bring children with her when trying to infiltrate the U.S. border. No parent, after all, would subject her children to such risks unless there was an incentive to do so," the center said, adding that changed under Obama.

 

"Children have served as get-out-of-jail-free cards for border infiltrators, ensuring the whole family's release," the center said.