Trump says no plans to reinstate family separation policy

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) said that he was "not looking" to revive his administration's policy of separating migrant families at the US-Mexico border.

Trump's comments came after several media reports suggested that the US President was planning to reinstate the policy.

Although Trump denied such reports, he said that such a policy is effective to tackle illegal border crossings.

"We're not looking to do that. No!" The Hill quoted Trump saying during a press briefing at the Oval Office with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi sitting next to him.

While Trump contended that the policy would prevent people from illegally crossing the US, he asserted that he had no plans to reinstate the practice.

"Once you don't have it, that's why you see many more people coming. They're coming like it's a picnic because, 'let's go to Disneyland,' " he said in a lighter vein.

Several media reports on Monday had said that former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who resigned on April 7, had opposed the move of the revival of the family separation policy, saying it was a violation of Trump's executive order.

After reportedly trading barbs with Trump over immigration issues, Nielsen stepped down from her post.

Last year, the Trump administration had established a "zero-tolerance" immigration policy, in which authorities could arrest and prosecute those caught trespassing the US-Mexico border, which ultimately led to the separation of thousands of migrant families.

The move invited immense criticism among both the Democrats and Republicans, with most of them questioning the morality of the separation policy.

Subsequently, Trump halted the separation by signing an executive order, saying that only the US Congress could tackle the burning issue.