Trump urged to halt practice of separating migrant families
WASHINGTON — Leading figures of both parties pressured US President Donald Trump on Sunday to halt his administration’s practice of separating children from their parents when apprehended at the border as the issue further polarized the already divisive immigration debate in Washington.
Republican lawmakers, former first lady Laura Bush and a onetime adviser to Trump joined Democrats, including former president Bill Clinton, in condemning the family separations that have removed nearly 2,000 children from their parents in just six weeks. The administration pushed back, arguing that it was just enforcing the law.
The issue took on special resonance on Father’s Day as Democratic lawmakers made visits to detention facilities in Texas and New Jersey to protest the separations and the House prepared to take up immigration legislation.
Trump remained unusually silent on the issue Sunday.
Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, condemned the separations Sunday, except in cases where there is evidence of abuse or another good reason.
”What the administration has decided to do is to separate children from their parents to try to send a message that, if you cross the border with children, your children are going to be ripped away from you,” she said on “Face the Nation” on CBS.”
That is traumatizing to the children, who are innocent victims. And it is contrary to our values in this country.” “We know from years of experience that we need to fix our immigration laws,” she added, “and that using children is not the answer.”
Clinton likewise spoke out, suggesting that Trump was using the widely condemned practice to leverage Democrats into accepting immigration limits in legislation they would otherwise oppose.
”These children should not be a negotiating tool,” he wrote on Twitter. “And reuniting them with their families would reaffirm America’s belief in & support for all parents who love their children.”
Hillary Clinton retweeted that message, adding, “YES!” Contrary to the president’s public statements, no law requires families to necessarily be separated at the border.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ zero tolerance announcement that the government will prosecute all unlawful immigrants as criminals set up a situation in which children are removed when their parents are taken into federal custody.