Ivanka Trump calls father's immigrant family separation policy 'low point' for administration

Alan Gomez | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Ivanka Trump: Separation of families a low point Ivanka Trump on Thursday cited the separation of migrant children from their parents as a low point of her White House tenure. She also said she does not believe the media is an enemy of the people. (Aug. 3)

Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter and senior adviser, called the administration's immigration enforcement policy that led to more than 2,500 family separations along the southern border a "low point" that she felt "very strongly about."

Trump has remained mostly silent on immigration throughout her father's presidency, weighing in only when asked about the topic during public appearances. That's what happened Thursday when she was asked at an Axios event about the family separations that prompted President Donald Trump to sign an executive order curtailing the practice and led a federal judge to order all the families to be reunited.

"That was a low point for me," she said. "I feel very strongly about that. I am very vehemently against family separation and the separation of parents and children."

Her criticism ended there as she went on to explain that illegal immigration is a complex issue that requires tough decisions from the U.S. government.

She talked about being the daughter of an immigrant, referring to her mother, Ivana Trump, who emigrated to the USA from Czechoslovakia. She made clear that "we are a country of laws" and said her mother entered the country legally.

.@IvankaTrump: "That was a low point for me as well. I feel very strongly about that. I am very vehemently against family separation and the separation of parents and children…immigration is incredibly complex as a topic." #axios360 pic.twitter.com/shU32wprwu — CSPAN (@cspan) August 2, 2018

She warned about the decisions parents in other countries make to send their children to the USA.

"We have to be very careful about incentivizing behavior that puts children at risk of being trafficked, at risk of entering this country with coyotes or making an incredibly dangerous journey alone," she said.

In the family separation crisis, parents and children were illegally crossing into the USA together and were separated by U.S. immigration agents.

"These are incredibly difficult issues," Trump said. "And like the rest of the country, I experience them in an emotional way."

When asked about Ivanka Trump's statements Thursday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders downplayed any internal disagreements, saying father and daughter both believe the solution to the problem lies solely with Congress.

"The president himself has stated that he doesn't like the idea of family separation," Sanders said. "We also don't like the idea of open borders. ... We want to secure the borders. We want to change the law. It's Congress' job to do that."

Thursday's comments were rare for Donald Trump's daughter. First lady Melania Trump visited the southern border twice, drawing criticism over a jacket she wore on the first trip. Ivanka Trump, a mother of three who spoke often on the campaign trail about bringing a mother's perspective to her decisions, had addressed the family separation saga in only one tweet posted the day President Trump issued his executive order ending the practice.

In the tweet, she thanked her father for ending the policy and urged Congress to act.

Thank you @POTUS for taking critical action ending family separation at our border. Congress must now act + find a lasting solution that is consistent with our shared values;the same values that so many come here seeking as they endeavor to create a better life for their families — Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) June 20, 2018

Ivanka Trump drew disappointed howls the last time she waded into immigration, when she was asked during an event how the government should handle the nearly 800,000 beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that her father tried to terminate. The young immigrants are often called DREAMers.

In that case, she also called on Congress to fix the problem, according to CNN.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw, who ordered the administration to reunite all the families, is scheduled to hold another hearing in San Diego on Friday to get an update from the government on its work. More than 1,400 have been reunited under Sabraw's order, but more than 700 children remain separated because their parents were either deported or the government raised concerns about their parents.