Rep. Adam Schiff said migrant kids detained at a shelter he visited in California had food, shelter, and medical care, but didn’t have “what they need.”
In posts on Twitter and Facebook on Thursday, the California Democrat explained that he toured a shelter facility in Fullerton, Calif., and wanted to share his thoughts “about the need to reunite these families.”
“The kids had a place to sleep, food to eat, a school to attend and medical care. Everything, but what they need — their parents,” he said.
Like his fellow Democrats, Schiff has pinned the situation on President Trump and a GOP Congress “unwilling to do anything about it.”
I just visited a shelter for separated children in California. The kids had a place to sleep, food to eat, a school to attend and medical care. Everything, but what they need — their parents.
We must reunite these families: https://t.co/Pnk71rlutA
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) July 5, 2018
The Trump administration rolled out a zero tolerance policy in April to say it would be prosecuting all illegal entrants, including first-time offenders who were traveling with minors. Following national outcry, Trump issued an executive order June 20 ordering families not to be separated, but that has been stymied by a number of government roadblocks. On Thursday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said his agency will comply with a federal judge’s ruling and work to reunite nearly 3,000 families.
Meanwhile, Congress has stumbled in working to pass a long-term legislative fix.
Schiff said there had been 16 kids separated from their parents at the shelter he visited and noted the parents for two of them had already been deported and some of the others hadn’t had a chance to speak to their parents since being detained.
He complained that there is disorganization among the detention centers, but praised the conditions and staff of the facility he visited, even if he didn’t deem them sufficient.
“The staff is caring, the facilities were clean, and the organization running them also serves refugee children and other unaccompanied minor immigrants. But none of that can make up for the trauma the kids are enduring,” Schiff said in a tweet.
Schiff said he was set to visit a detention center where parents are being kept next.
