The faces of the immigration issue | Scenes along the border

The immigration issue has taken center stage in America, and the Texas border has become ground zero.

The issue of families being separated as immigrants who have crossed the border illegally are taken into custody and their children are sent to separate detention facilities has drawn global outrage.

President Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order to end the 6-week-old “zero tolerance” practice, but the issue of reuniting immigrant families who already have been split up remains unresolved.

Left, Border Patrol agents detain a group of Central American asylum-seekers near the U.S.-Mexico border in McAllen, Texas. Right, a two-year-old Honduran girl cries as her mother is searched in McAllen.

Clockwise from top left, Central American asylum-seekers wait to be taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol agents near McAllen, Texas. A boy and his father from Honduras are taken into custody near the U.S.-Mexico Border in Mission, Texas. U.S. Border Patrol authorities execute the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy toward immigrants entering the country illegally. Federal agents ask a group of Central Americans to remove hair bands and wedding rings before taking them into custody.

Top, a young boy is detained along with his family members. Left, a group of migrants who had just crossed the U.S.-Mexico border walk along a road headed north near McAllen, Texas, where local authorities wait. Right, Hayti Alvarado, 26, holds her son, Esteban Alvarado, 3, as her daughter, Gabriella Alvarado, 11, cries after being detained near the Rio Grande River.