Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) said she “wouldn’t use the detention system at all” to deal with the immigration crisis at the southern border, if elected president.
Gillibrand’s comments came during a Sunday appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation. Host Margaret Brennan asked the 2020 presidential contender if she supported stopping family separation and instead would support keeping families detained together. Gillibrand said she did not.
“You oppose even what the Obama administration did in terms of keeping families together or for longer period of time in detention?” Brennan said.
“I wouldn’t put them in detention at all,” Gillibrand said. “As president of the United States, I wouldn’t use the detention system at all. In fact what I would do is actually fund the border security measures that are anti-terrorism, anti-human trafficking, anti-drug trafficking, and anti-gun trafficking. I would defund these for-profit prison systems that are harming children and harming families who are seeking asylum. If someone is seeking asylum, I would hire them a lawyer.” – READ MORE