A top White House official on Tuesday accused Democrats of highlighting the separation of families at the border as a way to score points for the midterm elections.
Mercedes Schlapp, White House director of strategic communications, said even Democrats like Hillary Clinton were saying years ago that the U.S. border has to be protected.
“Now all of the sudden, these Democrats want to use this issue of immigration as an emotional, divisive, political play as they’re entering into the midterm election, which is incredibly irresponsible,” Schlapp said on Fox News.
Democrats have spent the last few weeks arguing that the separation of children from their families at the border is cruel and is something Trump could reverse. But the Trump administration has said it needs to enforce border laws, which currently don’t allow for the lengthy detention of children.
For that reason, officials say, children are being separated from their parents or guardians while the adults are being prosecuted for illegally crossing into the United States. But Schlapp said Trump is willing to work with Democrats to change the law so family separation can be reduced.
“President Trump since last year has been proposing real immigration reform that will close the legal loopholes that will end these family separations, that will ensure that we secure our border,” she said.
“We have to understand that these families that are separated, it is for a limited period of time … five to 10 days,” she added. “It is because if you come in and cross the border, it is a crime, and so the illegal immigrant who is the adult will have to be prosecuted.”
