2.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Advertisements

The problem according to Kellyanne Conway isn’t immigrant kids are being taken away from their parents, but that Democrats won’t give Trump the money to build more prisons for immigrant children.

Video:

Advertisements

Transcript:

CHUCK TODD: You can keep the families together. Why can’t you find a way to still —

KELLYANNE CONWAY: Do you want the child in jail? As opposed to a facility–

CHUCK TODD: You keep the families together. Why don’t you create a family detention center?

KELLYANNE CONWAY: Well, we had those under President Obama but the Democrats are holding up the funding to expand those. The President had a 70 point immigration plan, this was included in it, Chuck, that expanding, really doubling the detention center capacity, hiring more ICE agents — we don’t have the capacity. Those brave men and women at the border who are trying to do their jobs as best they can. This is an issue. And, and if the Democrats are serious, and if a lot of Republicans are serious, they’ll come together. They won’t just talk about this week, ‘the dreamers’, or just ‘the wall’, or just ‘catch and release’. It’s all of the above. And there are ways to repatriate these families back into their home countries expeditiously.

The problem is that Democrats won’t let Trump build more kid prisons

Family detention centers aren’t the answer either, because while the children would still have their parents, they would also be in prison. According to Kellyanne Conway, this would all be solved if Democrats would just vote to give Trump the money to build more prisons. Of course, the other idea that doesn’t involve wasting taxpayer money is that Trump stops treating every immigrant like they are a criminal. In other words, Trump could stop throwing children and their parents into prison.

The White House is tying itself into knots trying to blame Democrats for a policy that has become a political and a humanitarian disaster. Trump could end this with one phone call. He isn’t gaining leverage. Trump is handing the House, Senate, and maybe even the White House back to Democrats in 2018 and 2020.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.