Tom Brenner/The New York Times
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting of the National Space Council in the East Room of the White House, in Washington, June 18, 2018. At the event, Trump remained resistant Monday in the face of growing public outcry over his administration’s policy of separating children from their parents at the border, repeating the false assertion that Democrats were the ones to blame for it, and suggesting that criminals — not parents — were toting juveniles to the U.S.
© 2018 New York Times News Service
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump remained resistant Monday in the face of growing public outcry over his administration’s policy of separating children from their parents at the border, repeating the false assertion that Democrats were the ones to blame for it, and suggesting that criminals — not parents — were toting juveniles to the United States.
“They could be murderers and thieves and so much else,” Trump said of the people crossing the border, as he delivered somewhat incongruous remarks during a meeting of the National Space Council on Monday. “We want a safe country, and it starts with the borders, and that’s the way it is.”
For several days, senior members of the administration, some declining to speak on the record, have used blame as a roundabout defense tactic for a policy that has seen nearly 2,000 children taken away from their parents in a six-week period and drawn condemnation from a chorus of Republican and Democratic critics.
Those critics have included a group of Democratic lawmakers, President Bill Clinton and Laura Bush, the last Republican first lady. The current first lady, Melania Trump, also weighed in, calling for “a country that governs with a heart.”
In a series of tweets and speeches Monday, Donald Trump instead relied on fear to curry support for a “zero tolerance” policy that refers for criminal prosecution all immigrants apprehended crossing the border without authorization.
“Children are being used by some of the worst criminals on earth as a means to enter our country,” he wrote. “Has anyone been looking at the Crime taking place south of the border. It is historic, with some countries the most dangerous places in the world. Not going to happen in the U.S.”
Trump repeated his running blame of Democratic policies — “CHANGE THE LAWS!” — despite the fact that no law requires families to necessarily be separated at the border.
In another tweet, Trump looked to Germany, one of the United States’ closest allies, to warn the public about what might happen if the policy was relaxed. The president falsely claimed that crime in Germany is on the rise, and railed against immigration policies in Europe.
