The White House on Monday blamed congressional Democrats for allowing migrant children to be separated from their families at the border, claiming the party has turned the situation into an “emotional issue” ahead of the November midterm elections.
“The president wants the Democrats to come to the table. Instead of the Democrats spending all of this time in the detention centers holding these press conferences, they should make sure they support these bills,” White House strategic communications director Mercedes Schlapp told Fox News.
Trump is slated to meet with House Republicans on Tuesday evening to discuss two immigration bills that were expected to be voted on this week, one of which contains a provision that would end the “zero tolerance” policy that the White House carried out as a result of a court decision in May. Democrats are not expected to support either piece of legislation.
“We can close these legal loopholes tomorrow, but Democrats need to come on board. We have our hands tied, and we need to change this problem. And we need to solve it now,” Schlapp said.
[Also read: Trump continues to blame Democrats for splitting families at the border]
Schlapp said Democrats are demonstrating that they want “to play politics with this issue” to attract support among moderate Republicans and independent voters in the months leading up to the fall elections.
“[They] are using this as an emotional issue … before the midterm elections. That is disgraceful,” she claimed.
Several Democratic lawmakers from New Jersey and New York held a press conference on Sunday after meeting with five illegal immigrants who had been transferred to the Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility in Elizabeth, N.J. The men had been separated from their children upon crossing illegally into the U.S. from Mexico.
“What I saw in there is inhumane. I see the politics of this administration and it turns my stomach because I know what this country stands for,” Rep. Albio Sires, D-N.J., said Sunday. “And that’s not what we are in America.”
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has continued to blame its political opponents for allowing family separations to occur. The administration’s policy prohibits migrant children from being taken into custody with their parents while they are prosecuted for crossing the border illegally. Nearly 2,000 children have been separated from their parents since May as a result of the policy.
[Update: Trump administration could be holding 30,000 border kids by August, officials say]
“It is the Democrats fault for being weak and ineffective with Boarder [sic] Security and Crime. Tell them to start thinking about the people devastated by Crime coming from illegal immigration. Change the laws!” the president tweeted Monday morning.
