Former Attorney General Eric Holder said it was shocking the Bible was being used to defend the Trump administration’s new zero-tolerance policy to prosecute all illegal immigrants and to separate families, a move that comes after Attorney General Jeff Sessions pointed to a Biblical passage to back up the policy.
“Unbelievably the Bible is now being cited to justify this policy of separating kids from parents,” Holder tweeted Thursday. “This is a policy change this administration put in place that is cruel and inhumane. Where are Republican voices in opposition? You own this.”
Unbelievably the Bible is now being cited to justify this policy of separating kids from parents. This is a policy change this Administration put in place that is cruel and inhumane. Where are Republican voices in opposition? You own this. https://t.co/6eWh5zsWfX
— Eric Holder (@EricHolder) June 14, 2018
Earlier Thursday, Sessions blamed church leaders for using the Bible to condemn the policy and instead, pointed to the Bible to support the policy.
“Illegal entry into the United States is a crime — as it should be. Persons who violate the law of our nation are subject to prosecution. I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order,” Sessions said Thursday at a gathering in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The policy took effect after Sessions had been attorney general for 15 months and after apprehensions for illegal immigrants on the Southwest border reached more than 50,000 for three months in a row.
“The problem is that it became well-known that adults with children were not being prosecuted for unlawful entry [between ports of entry] and the numbers surged from 15,000 in 2013 to 75,000 four years later,” Sessions said. “That policy was a declaration of open borders for family units.”
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders supported Sessions’ statements later Thursday.
“I can say that it’s very Biblical to enforce the law,” Sanders said Thursday at the White House press briefing when asked about the comments. “It’s repeated many times throughout the Bible.”
