Thompson Statement on DHS Policy Change to Separate Families at Border
(WASHINGTON) – Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security, released the following statement on news reports that the Department of Homeland Security has changed its policy to refer all adults crossing the border between ports of entry for prosecution. This policy change will result in the separation of families.
“This misguided policy is another statement of cruelty from President Trump’s Department of Homeland Security. Let it be clear: the Department of Homeland Security’s official policy is now to separate families – including mothers from their young children – when they seek assistance at the border between ports of entry. DHS continues to outrageously twist statistics and distort facts in order to justify the President’s extreme agenda and instill fear in the American people. It is shameful that the Administration views those seeking asylum or a better life as statistics rather than human beings.”
“Criminalizing parents seeking protection for themselves and their children is inhumane, excessively punitive, and can deliberately interfere with their ability to seek asylum. Claiming to protect vulnerable children by separating them from their families and placing them in a system that is mismanaged and overwhelmed makes no sense and flies in the face of the family values Republicans have harped on for decades. Since the first days of the Administration, DHS has continually chosen to selectively hype issues and now seems to have no qualms about weaponizing our immigration system against the most vulnerable. The Trump Administration’s immigration policies continue to become more extreme by the day and run counter to our longstanding American values.”
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