In late June, U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw issued a preliminary injunction requiring that the federal government reunite families that had been separated at the southern border as a result of the Trump administration’s racist and unnecessarily cruel “zero tolerance” immigration policy. Sabraw, in his ruling, demanded that children four years old and younger be returned to their parents within 14 days, with all other children being reunited with their families by July 26. [Approximately 3,000 children were taken from their families and put into federal custody as a result of the Trump administration policy. Of those, it’s been reported that 102 were four years old and younger.]
Well, as today marks Sabra’s first deadline, and as only about 38 of the 102 infants and toddlers seized by the U.S. government have yet to be returned to their families, journalists asked Donald Trump, who was leaving today for his private meeting with Vladimir Putin, what he was doing to expedite the process and comply with the court order.
Here, via the White House press pool, is what happened when Trump was asked the question.
And, yes, you read that correctly. When asked what he was doing to remedy the situation that he’d created, and return these small, terrified children to their parents, he said that the solution was for them to have never come to America in the first place. “Well, I have a solution,” Donald Trump told members of the press. “Tell people not to come to our country illegally. That’s the solution.”
The President then went on to say, “I also have a cure for those Americans dying from cancer. It’s very simple. Don’t get cancer.”
OK, I made that last part up, but he might as well have said it… I mean, who in their right mind, when asked what he’s doing to expedite the return of infants to their parents, responds by saying the solution is for them never to have come in the first place?
Here, for those of you who might doubt that President Trump would say such a thing, is the video, which was subsequently released by the White House… Apparently, not only is the administration not embarrassed by this, but they think it’ll work with their base. And, sadly, they’re probably right.
“Well, I have a solution: Tell people not to come to our country illegally. That's the solution: Don't come to our country illegally. Come like other people do—come legally. I'm saying this very simply: We have laws, we have borders. Don't come to our country illegally.” pic.twitter.com/kiwB8rJVDl
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 10, 2018