Texas' Department of Public Safety (DPS) is telling troopers working for Gov. Greg Abbott's border mission known as Operation Lone Star to stop separating migrant families along the U.S.-Mexico border, the Houston Chronicle reported.
The written policy, described as "general guidance," specifically includes exceptions for when an officer "develops probable cause to arrest a family member who has engaged in a serious crime constituting a danger to another person including a danger to another family unit member."
A DPS spokesman said troopers "can still arrest people claiming to be fathers for criminal trespass, but the agency will not separate children from their mothers."
For more than two years, Abbott has escalated measures to keep migrants from entering the U.S., pushing legal boundaries with a go-it-alone bravado along the state's 1,200-mile border with Mexico.
In August, the state's public safety office said Texas state police officers separated migrant families along the border with Mexico by detaining fathers on trespassing charges and turning over mothers and children to federal officials.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security at the time said reports of separated families were troubling and should be investigated.
"Managing our border in a safe and humane way works best when we all work together to respect the dignity of every human being and keep our communities safe," the department said.
A federal judge earlier this month prohibited the separation of families at the border for purposes of deterring immigration for eight years, preemptively blocking resumption of a lightning-rod, Trump-era policy that the former president has not ruled out if voters return him to the White House next year.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.