Washington: A top White House adviser, on Monday, distanced the Trump administration from responsibility for separating migrant children from their parents at the US-Mexico border—the policy that has led to a spike in cases of split and distraught families. The policy was implemented by the Trump administration and holds the power to revoke it.
“Nobody likes breaking up families and seeing babies ripped from their mothers' arms," said Kellyanne Conway, a counsellor to the president.
President Donald Trump has tried to blame Democrats for this situation, though they hold no decision-making power currently. The move has sparked a national debate over the moral implications of his hard-line approach to immigration enforcement.
Nearly 2,000 children were separated from their families over a six-week period in April and May after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a new ‘zero-tolerance’ policy that refers all cases of illegal entry for criminal prosecution.
US protocol prohibits detaining children with their parents because the children are not charged with a crime and the parents are.
Maine Sen, a Republican critic, slammed the policy saying that it is traumatizing to the children and contrary to the values of US.
“The administration wants to send a message that if you cross the border with children, your children are going to be ripped away from you,” Sen added.
Susan Collins stated: "We know from years of experience that we need to fix our immigration laws and that using children is not the answer."
Trump plans to meet with House Republicans on Tuesday to discuss pending immigration legislation amid an election-season debate over an issue that helped vault the New York real estate mogul into the Oval Office in 2016.
Comments
0 comment