Exclusive - Nearly 1,800 families separated at U.S.-Mexico border in 17 months through February

FILE PHOTO: Immigrants who turned themselves in to border patrol agents after illegally crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S. wait to be transported for processing in the Rio Grande Valley sector, near McAllen, Texas, U.S., April 2, 2018. REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly 1,800 immigrant families were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border from October 2016 through February of this year, according to a senior government official, as President Donald Trump implemented stricter border enforcement policies. 

The numbers are the first comprehensive disclosure by the administration of how many families have been affected by the policies. Previously, the only numbers provided by federal officials on family separations covered a single two-week period in May.