Hoyer: Shame On President Trump For Separating Families at the Border
Press Types
Press Release
For Immediate Release:
June 18, 2018
Contact Info:
Mariel Saez 202-225-3130
WASHINGTON, DC – House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement on President Trump's remarks today on his Administration's policy of separating families at the border:
“President Trump’s remarks today were tone deaf and displayed a profound misunderstanding about what this country is all about. There is precisely one individual who holds the fate of the migrant children and their parents in his hands, and that is President Trump. There is no law requiring that families be separated at the border. His claim that this is a Democratic policy is a bold-faced lie. In fact, it was Attorney General Sessions who announced this new policy in April. At any time he chooses, the President could end a practice that even his own wife has said she ‘hates to see’ taking place and that former First Lady Laura Bush called ‘cruel’ and ‘immoral.’
“The American people must not be confused about what is taking place here: this President has ordered that innocent children be torn from their parents’ arms, assigned numbers, and held in what have been described by witnesses as cages. He is doing it for the sole purpose of trying to build his wall and cease much of the legal immigration that has always made America great. Shame on him. Shame on all of us if we do not come together to stop it.”
“President Trump’s remarks today were tone deaf and displayed a profound misunderstanding about what this country is all about. There is precisely one individual who holds the fate of the migrant children and their parents in his hands, and that is President Trump. There is no law requiring that families be separated at the border. His claim that this is a Democratic policy is a bold-faced lie. In fact, it was Attorney General Sessions who announced this new policy in April. At any time he chooses, the President could end a practice that even his own wife has said she ‘hates to see’ taking place and that former First Lady Laura Bush called ‘cruel’ and ‘immoral.’
“The American people must not be confused about what is taking place here: this President has ordered that innocent children be torn from their parents’ arms, assigned numbers, and held in what have been described by witnesses as cages. He is doing it for the sole purpose of trying to build his wall and cease much of the legal immigration that has always made America great. Shame on him. Shame on all of us if we do not come together to stop it.”