Attorney General Jeff Sessions forcefully rebuked critics who fault the Trump administration for the separation of illegal immigrant families at the border, saying that the Obama administration’s policies are partially to blame.
Speaking to Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” Monday night, Sessions said illegal immigrants have taken advantage of the U.S.
“We have watched what happened with the Obama policies, and over years, we went from 15,000 illegal entries to 75,000 — this is a huge loophole in our system that’s attracting more and more people, as more and more people understand that, under previous policies, if they enter the country unlawfully, that nothing will happen,” Sessions said.
The attorney general denied that children are being abused or kept in inhumane conditions, saying that the Department of Health and Human Services spent approximately a billion dollars last year taking care of children caught crossing the border.
“We are taking care of these children; they are not being abused,” Sessions added. “We’ve had a big surge of families bringing children or some adults bringing children with them.”
In response to critics who have compared immigrant detention centers to Nazi Germany, Sessions said “we need to be rational and thoughtful” about the situation.
“In Nazi Germany, they were keeping the Jews from leaving the country,” Sessions said, drawing a contrast that was criticized on Twitter as being tone deaf.
Asked whether children are being separated as part of an intentional deterrence policy to discourage illegal immigration, Sessions suggested fewer border crossings could be a positive result of the administration’s zero-tolerance stance.
“Fundamentally, we are enforcing the law,” Sessions said. “Hopefully people will get the message … and not break across the border unlawfully.” – READ MORE
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