Democrats and Republicans appear to rarely agree these days. But on the issue of separating families who circumvent the law and cross the border into America, there’s some consensus that the country should halt the practice.
The Trump Administration has been criticized by both political parties for its zero-tolerance approach to illegal immigration, which detain adult migrants as they await criminal prosecution, while the children who accompanied them are sent to crowding detention centers.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions last week said “if you cross the Southwest border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you. It’s that simple.”
Throughout the weekend and into Monday, the practice of family separations has dominated the news cycle, even overshadowing the Friday jailing of Mr. Paul Manafort, the former Chairman of the Trump campaign, and a lawsuit against the Trump Foundation initiated by the New York Attorney General.
The U.S. president is buried in unflattering narratives. And even though Mr. Donald J. Trump said he hates the separation of families – his wife, Melania Trump, in a statement released Sunday said she, too, hates the practice – he’s being characterized as cruel, inhumane and un-American for his unwillingness to call it off.
“Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions are going to have a hard time getting into Heaven,” said Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney. “God is not going to be happy and she’s going to send them to someplace warm.”
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Visibly upset on Monday morning, the mayor in an exclusive interview with Techbook Online struggled at times to find the words to express himself. In his almost sixty years of life, Mr. Kenney said he’s never seen anything like what’s happening now in the country.
“It’s a humanitarian disgrace,” he said.
The Democrat’s comments on immigration join an expanding chorus of bipartisan outrage and disapproval which span the political gamut.
Former first lady Laura Bush on Sunday in a compelling op-ed called the practice immoral. Appearing on CNN this morning, Mr. Anthony Scaramucci, Mr. Trump’s former White House Communications Director, called on his once boss to abandon the “atrocious policy.”
Mr. Bill O’Reilly, formerly of Fox News, on Monday said the president “will not win on this one and it should reverse course today.”
Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat from Texas, at a Sunday press conference demanded the president “cease and desist” moving the arch of justice to the trash heap of despair.
And Congressman Hakeem Jeffries of New York on Sunday joined a half-dozen other Democrats in making a surprise visit to a New Jersey detention center. Afterwards, Mr. Jeffries accused the Trump Administration of child abuse.
The process detention center in McAllen, Texas released a few photos of the building’s interior. It shows mattresses on the floor and cages.
The Border Patrol on Monday told CBS News’ Gayle King, who was reporting from the Texas location, that it was uncomfortable with the use of the word “cages.” And not due to inaccuracy, but because the noun implies the children are being treated like animals. Mr. Steve Doocy of Fox and Friends instead called them “metal security pens.”
In Louisiana today, the Secretary of Homeland Security gave a speech to the National Sheriffs’ Association. Ms. Kirstjen Nielsen told the New Orleans crowd that undocumented immigrant children are being treated well and to not believe the news reports about detention centers.
“We provide food, medical, education, and all needs that the child requests,” she said.
You can detain people… you don’t have to detain them without their kids, said Mayor Kenney, who called the practice of isolating children from their parents “inhumane.”
Reports suggest that at least 2,700 families have been separated at the border between October 1st, 2017 and May 31st, 2018.
In early April, the Department of Justice announced its zero-tolerance policy for criminal illegal entry, a response to a reported 203 percent increase in illegal border crossing from March 2017 to March 2018, and a 37 percent increase from February 2018 to March 2018.
“The situation at our Southwest Border is unacceptable. Congress has failed to pass effective legislation that serves the national interest – that closes dangerous loopholes and fully funds a wall along our southern border,” Mr. Sessions said at the April announcement.
Mr. Sessions is also currently in Louisiana. And on Monday he addressed the practice of separating families.
“If we build a wall, we pass some legislation, we close some loopholes, we won’t face these terrible choices,” he said.
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