(19 Jun 2018) Politicians and advocates flocked to the Mexican border to visit U.S. immigration detention centers and turn up the pressure on the Trump administration amid a growing uproar Monday over its policy of separating immigrant children from their parents.
In San Diego, Rep. Juan Vargas and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus were leading members of Congress on a visit Monday to several immigration detention facilities. Vargas, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and other U.S. lawmakers hoped to meet with men, women and children detained at the international boundary.
"I know that these people in Congress and in the administration are parents. They understand the damage that is done when stress is exacted on children by separating them from their families. Do they think these children deserve less then their children do in terms of care and love," Pelosi said.
Nearly 2,000 children were taken from their parents over a six-week period in April and May after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a "zero tolerance" policy when it comes to prosecuting those arrested for illegally entering the country. Church groups and human rights advocates have sharply criticized the policy, calling it inhumane.
The policy has divided Republicans, with former first lady Laura Bush saying in a guest column in Sunday's Washington Post that the practice of separating immigrant parents and children along the nation's southern border is "cruel" and ?immoral" and "breaks my heart." Bush likened the policy to the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
President Donald Trump emphatically defended his administration's policy Monday, again falsely blaming Democrats.
"The United States will not be a migrant camp and it will not be a refugee holding facility," he declared. "Not on my watch."
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