The hottest topic at Monday's White House press briefing was, expectedly, the Trump administration's policy of separating children from parents who are attempting to enter the country illegally. DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen took the press's pointed questions, and she did not hide her emotions when answering them.
She denied accounts that the policy amounted to "child abuse" or was comparable to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War Two.
Kirstjen Nielsen just said that Trump's detention centers aren't child abuse because the kids have . pic.twitter.com/ObUgS1RvtY
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) June 18, 2018
She was especially offended by the following exchange.
"Are you intending for parents to be separated from their children?" one reporter asked. "Are you intending to send a message?"
"I find that offensive," Nielsen shot back. "Why would I ever create a policy that purposely does that?"
At an earlier event Monday, Nielsen said the White House would not apologize for the policy.
"To a select few in the media, Congress and the advocacy community, I'd like to start with a message for you," she said. "This Department will not longer stand by and watch you attack law enforcement for enforcing the laws passed by Congress. We will not apologize for the job we do."
If Congress closes the loopholes that allows adult migrants to take advantage of the undocumented children's policy, then the families will be able to stay together throughout the proceedings, she agreed at the briefing.
That was the message from White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders too, who followed Nielsen to the podium. The president, she said, is trying to work with Congress to find a solution.
Trump "doesn't like the process," Sanders said, and he wants to see Congress fix the law.
Congress creates the law, and the White House enforces it, she reminded reporters. People should be "begging" Congress to join the president and offer solutions.
The president is sick of watching people kick the problem down the road, Sanders added.
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