“Trump is moving in exactly the wrong direction and we see the cruelty of his immigration policies,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said of President Donald Trump. | Getty Bernie Sanders: Trump administration ‘heartless’ toward immigrants

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday said President Donald Trump and his administration are “heartless” toward immigrants.

“I think it is heartless. I think the entire Trump views on immigration is heartless,” Sanders said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”


Last week, chief of staff John Kelly told NPR that “the laws are the laws” and that the technique of separating families who cross the border illegally is one that “no one hopes will be used extensively or for very long.” Kelly also said during the interview that undocumented immigrants coming to the U.S. “don't integrate well” and “don’t have skills.”

Since the start of his presidential campaign, Trump has called for a border wall to be built along the U.S.-Mexico border. In addition, he has labeled some Mexicans as “rapists” and “killers,” and referred to some of the nations from which many immigrants come as “shithole countries.”

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Sanders said that in the latest polls he has seen, nearly 80 percent of Americans believe the 1.8 million people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program should be provided legal status. Though Sanders did not specify which poll he was talking about, a Harvard CAPS-Harris survey in late February found that 76 percent of voters say DACA recipients, also known as “Dreamers,” should be given a pathway to U.S. citizenship.

“The American people believe that we should move forward to comprehensive immigration reform, and Trump is moving in exactly the wrong direction and we see the cruelty of his immigration policies when you talk about the United States government separating children from their parents,” Sanders said.