President Donald Trump on Monday night defended Border Patrol agents' use of tear gas against illegal aliens attempting to cross the border into the United States.
Specifically, reporters asked about the images of women and children running from tear gas.
Border authorities fired tear gas and, according to witnesses, rubber bullets as the migrant caravan approached the US-Mexico border (??: Reuters) https://t.co/RBW2StZiJM pic.twitter.com/TcbQ99FCLz
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) November 25, 2018
US agents shoot tear gas at migrant caravan https://t.co/JHdHAEc1P4 pic.twitter.com/8SK2cGz98F
— SFGate (@SFGate) November 25, 2018
Trump explained the use of tear gas to the media, saying it's "safe" to use.
"First of all, the tear gas is a very minor form of the tear gas itself. It’s very safe," Trump told reporters Monday evening following a MAGA rally in Mississippi. "But you really say, why is a parent running up into an area where they know the tear gas is forming? And it’s going to be formed and they’re running up with a child."
The President also reminded reporters that not every man and woman that's with a child is indeed their parent or parents.
"In some cases, they’re not the parents. These are people — they call them grabbers. They grab a child because they think they’re going to have a certain status by having a child," he said. "You have certain advantages in terms of our crazy laws that, frankly, Congress should be changing. If you changed the laws, you wouldn’t be having this problem."
According to Trump, Border Patrol had to utilize tear gas because hundreds of caravan riders were becoming violent and agents' lives were at risk.
WATCH: President Trump comments on use of tear gas on women and children in migrant caravan who tried to enter the U.S. on Sunday. https://t.co/prjjRnmEEA pic.twitter.com/EUgzrmY0tG
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 27, 2018