Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday defended the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” border policy amid a firestorm of criticism over the separation of migrant children from their parents.
“President Trump has said this cannot continue,” Sessions told the National Sheriffs' Association annual conference on Monday. “We do not want to separate parents from their children. We do not want adults to bring children into this country unlawfully, either, placing those children at risk.”
“But we do have a policy of prosecuting adults who flout our laws who come here illegally instead of waiting their turn or claiming asylum,” he continued.
"If we build the wall, if we pass legislation to end the lawlessness, we won’t face these terrible choices,” he said.
Sessions went on to say that the Trump administration is “dedicated to caring for children” but “will not encourage people to bring children by giving them blanket immunity from our laws.”
President Trump, despite backlash from not only Democrats and the liberal media but also members from within his own party, has doubled down on his support for the policy. On Monday, he called on Democrats and Republicans to come together and “work something out on Border Security and Safety.”
He wrote on Twitter that “children are being used by some of the worst criminals on earth as a means to enter our country” and that it is “not going to happen in the U.S.” if there’s something he can do about it.
He blasted Democrats in particular “for being weak and ineffective” on border security and crime, calling on them to “change the laws!”