Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., on Sunday accused the Trump administration of “intentionally” using “cruelty to children as a tool of immigration policy.”
In an interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” Coons lashed out at the handling of the massive surge of illegal immigrants across the southern border — particularly of the children caught up in the crisis.
“We’ve got an administration that has intentionally used cruelty to children as a tool of immigration policy,” Coons charged.
“I'll remind you that their zero-tolerance policy that forcibly separated children and their families was a disaster that faced a bipartisan outcry from both Republicans and Democrats,” he continued.
“They don't have a lot of moral authority to stand on in arguing that they would like Congress to give them an unlimited ability to detain children and their parents at the border. The bipartisan bill that just made it out of Congress to provide funding, increases the number of immigration judges and increases support for more humane conditions at the border. That's the right direction for us to go.”
He also criticized acting director of the Citizenship and Immigration Services office Ken Cuccinelli for blaming “loopholes” in asylum law for the surge.
“These aren’t loopholes, these are core features of American law,” Coons declared.
“The challenge [for Congress] is the ways in which President [Donald] Trump initially embraces and then abruptly reverses himself and opposes those bipartisan proposals that have been brought to him,” Coons added.
“The president just needs to be clear about what he’s willing to embrace” and secure majority support from congressional Republicans as well, he said.
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