Kansas Democratic Senate candidate and pastor Adam Hamilton said in 2018 that coverage of migrant families split at the southern border should be judged against Jesus Christ’s warning about harming children. He recalled giving that sermon during Trump-era enforcement against illegal crossings, when officials removed some children from accompanying adults while prosecuting illegal entry and checking whether those adults were parents or traffickers.

Hamilton said he would not dictate a policy but asked people to weigh the biblical warning when they saw reports of children taken from adults who had crossed with them. Breitbart News reported at the time that such splits were temporary when officials could not confirm a family tie, feared the child was at risk, or referred the adult for prosecution, and that authorities cautioned traffickers sometimes used children to impersonate families for easier entry.