White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Sunday ‘nobody likes’ to separate children from adults who are crossing the border illegally but she doubled down on the administration’s line that it is up to Democrats to change it.
‘As a mother, as a Catholic, as somebody who’s got a conscience,’ she said on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ I will tell you that nobody likes this policy.’
She also echoed an argument made by President Donald Trump that it’s in the hands of Congress to make the change.
‘Congress passed the law that it is a crime to enter this country illegally. So if they don’t like that law, they should change it,’ she added.
‘As a mother, as a Catholic, as somebody who’s got a conscience,’ Kellyanne Conway said,’ I will tell you that nobody likes this policy.’
Steve Bannon: ‘It’s a crime to come across illegally, and children get separated. I mean, I hate to say it, that’s the law and he’s enforcing the law’
Trump is scheduled to go to Capitol Hill on Tuesday at 5:30 pm to speak with House Republicans about immigration reform.
In early May, the Trump administration decided to prosecute adults caught crossing the border illegally, which requires children to be separated from those adults.
Trump administration officials have repeatedly defended the policy of separating kids and adults, arguing that it acts as a deterrent against illegal immigration.
Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, said the administration’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy on immigration doesn’t have to be justified.
‘It’s zero tolerance. I don’t think you have to justify it,’ Bannon told ABC’s ‘This Week’ on Sunday. ‘We have a crisis on the Southern border but the elites in the city … want to manage situations to bad outcomes. And Donald Trump is not going to do that, he’s just not going to kick the can down the road.’
‘It’s a crime to come across illegally, and children get separated. I mean, I hate to say it, that’s the law and he’s enforcing the law,’ he said.
‘Democrats and Republicans have spoken out against the practice.
Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who is running for Senate in Texas against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, said the process of separating families is ‘inhumane.’
‘I’d like to say it’s un-American, but it’s happening right now in America. And it’s on all of us, not just the Trump administration,’ he said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ on Sunday.
And Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said on CNN on Friday that Trump could end the separate practice.
‘President Trump could stop this policy with a phone call,’ he said. ‘If he can’t [acknowledge] that, I’ll go tell him ‘if you don’t like families being supported, you can tell DHS to stop doing it.’
Trump administration officials have argued that the policy is in place because Democrats won’t agree to negotiate stricter immigration laws.
‘The president is ready to get meaningful immigration reform across the board,’ Conway said on ‘Meet the Press.’
The president, too, has repeatedly blame Democrats for a policy his Sessions announced last month.
Sessions has repeatedly touted the policy and it’s necessity in appearance around the country and in interviews.
‘I hate children being taken away. That’s the Democrats’ law,’ Trump told reporters on Friday. ‘The children can be taken care of quickly, beautifully and immediately. The Democrats forced that law upon our nation.’
Trump has tweeted his blame of Democrats
Last month, reportedly furious by record high numbers of illegal border crossings, Trump ordered new efforts to criminally prosecute anyone who crossed the border unlawfully.
And on Sunday morning he retweeted a tweet from Saturday blaming Democrats for breaking up families.
‘Democrats can fix their forced family breakup at the Border by working with Republicans on new legislation, for a change! This is why we need more Republicans elected in November. Democrats are good at only three things, High Taxes, High Crime and Obstruction. Sad!’
Conway, meanwhile, claimed Democratic lawmakers are holding up funding that would allow the expansion of family detention centers.
She called on Congress to simultaneously address Trump’s border wall and the fate of the young immigrants left in limbo after the president rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
‘This is an issue, and if the Democrats are serious and a lot of the Republicans are serious they’ll come together, they won’t just talk about the Dreamers or the wall or catch and release, it’s all of the above,’ Conway said.
Department of Homeland Security figures obtained by The Associated Press on Friday showed that 1,995 minors were separated from 1,940 adults between April 19 and May 31.
That’s roughly 45 kids per day being placed in child immigrant detention centers.