GOP Sens. Corker, Alexander: Stop separating immigrant children, parents at the border

Michael Collins, The Tennessean | Nashville Tennessean

Show Caption Hide Caption Trump blames Democrats for separating families at border President Trump says the "horrible laws" allowing children to be taken from their parents as they illegally enter the U.S. are "the Democrats' fault" and "so sad."

WASHINGTON – Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander have joined the growing list of Congress members and others calling for the Trump administration to end its policy of separating immigrant children from parents accused of illegally attempting to enter the country.

“While the issues surrounding our immigration system are complex, we can all agree that innocent children should be protected and not used for deterrence,” Corker, a Tennessee Republican and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement on Monday.

“The administration should use all tools available to stop needless family separation without delay, and Congress should act swiftly to address the serious challenges facing our nation’s immigration system,” Corker said.

Alexander also issued a similar statement Monday.

“Illegal immigration is against the law but new enforcement policies have resulted in hundreds of children being separated from their parents,” he said. “The administration should end that new policy immediately while Congress works with the president on a bipartisan immigration solution that secures the border, provides a status for those already here and prevents a humanitarian crisis at the border.”

The policy has caused bipartisan outrage, with Democrats and some Republicans and several national religious leaders calling on the administration to stop separating parents from their children.

By the administration’s own count, nearly 2,000 children were separated from 1,940 adults in the six-week period from April 19 through May 31.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions detailed the "zero-tolerance" policy in a speech on May 7, saying immigrants who illegally enter the U.S. along the Mexican border would be prosecuted criminally.

Sessions acknowledged then that it would mean separating parents from children if they come into the U.S. illegally.

Under the “zero tolerance” policy, adults suspected of crossing the border illegally are sent to federal jails or other detention centers to await prosecution. If they have children accompanying them, the young people are placed in the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, because children cannot be held in adult facilities.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Sessions, speaking Monday at a National Sheriff's Association meeting in New Orleans, defended the policy. Trump, at a White House event, pinned the blame for failed immigration laws on obstructionist Democrats.

USA TODAY contributed to this report.

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