Democrats are seizing on a key immigration controversy as their winning issue in the fall midterm congressional election, one that even first lady Melania Trump agrees with them on — the plight of child immigrants taken from parents suspected of crimes.
At least five Republicans are being targeted on the issue by one group, Equity Forward Action, as it and other Democratic groups move to raise attention to the issue and demand action against the practice.
In two new ads unveiled Wednesday, the group is calling bolstering its call for hearings and legislation and targeting Republicans lawmakers who would have a role in that, Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington and Greg Walden or Oregon.
Walden chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee and McMorris Rodgers is the fourth ranking GOP leader in the House. “To date they have failed to take any meaningful actions to address the ongoing crisis that could lead to hundreds of children being orphaned,” said the group.
McMorris Rodgers has condemned the separation of children at the border. Walden said the controversy is one reason he is pushing for broader immigration reform. Even President Trump has blasted the policy and blamed Democrats for blocking his effort to change it in immigration reform.
Equity Forward has also targeted Texas Rep. Pete Sessions, Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo, and New Jersey Rep. Leonard Lance over the child separation issue, one which the administration has moved to quell.
Polls show wide support for an elimination of the policy, started long before the Trump administration, that handled families of illegal immigrants trying to cross the border like those of American families with criminal parents.
The group is asking the Energy and Commerce committee, which McMorris Rogers also sits on, to hold hearings into the issue.
