Attorney General Jeff Sessions forcefully rebuked critics who fault the Trump administration for the separation of illegal immigrant families at the border, saying that the Obama administration’s policies are partially to blame.
Speaking to Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” Monday night, Sessions said illegal immigrants have taken advantage of the U.S.
“We have watched what happened with the Obama policies, and over years, we went from 15,000 illegal entries to 75,000 — this is a huge loophole in our system that’s attracting more and more people, as more and more people understand that, under previous policies, if they enter the country unlawfully, that nothing will happen,” Sessions said.
The attorney general denied that children are being abused or kept in inhumane conditions, saying that the Department of Health and Human Services spent approximately a billion dollars last year taking care of children caught crossing the border.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions forcefully rebuked critics who fault the Trump administration for the separation of illegal immigrant families at the border, saying that the Obama administration’s policies are partially to blame.
Speaking to Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” Monday night, Sessions said illegal immigrants have taken advantage of the U.S.
“We have watched what happened with the Obama policies, and over years, we went from 15,000 illegal entries to 75,000 — this is a huge loophole in our system that’s attracting more and more people, as more and more people understand that, under previous policies, if they enter the country unlawfully, that nothing will happen,” Sessions said.
The attorney general denied that children are being abused or kept in inhumane conditions, saying that the Department of Health and Human Services spent approximately a billion dollars last year taking care of children caught crossing the border.
Sessions had touted the possible deterrent effect of separating children in announcing the administration’s new zero-tolerance policy, saying adults should not bring children across the border from Mexico.
Concerning complaints from top House GOP members that the DOJ and FBI have been slow to produce documents concerning political bias in their investigations, Sessions also said that “we have a responsibility to respond to Congress” and vowed to be responsive to their subpoenas.
Earlier Monday, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas announced a plan to introduce comprehensive “emergency legislation” designed to end unnecessary separations of illegal immigrant children from their parents.
The bill, an answer to President Trump’s call for a congressional solution to the situation, would double the number of immigration judges to 750 and mandate that illegal immigrant families be kept together, unless there has been “aggravated criminal conduct” or threat of harm to the children, according to Cruz’s office.
Cruz’s bill would also authorize new temporary shelters for immigrant families, and provide for expedited resolution of asylum claims within 14 days.
20
