WASHINGTON — A Trump administration policy of separating immigrant children from adults at the southern border is putting pressure on Republicans and threatening to engulf broader negotiations on Capitol Hill about dealing with those already in the U.S. illegally.
The administration’s “zero-tolerance policy” of detaining adults attempting to cross into the U.S. has resulted in the division of families traveling with children, and the federal government is beginning to run out of space for its detainees.
Read: Conway, first lady say they dislike separations of immigrant families, but don’t call for end to policy[1]
Also see: SUV carrying 14 and fleeing Border Patrol crashes in Texas, killing at least 5[2]
Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, a Republican whose district spans 800 miles of the Mexico border and who is locked in a competitive race for his seat, toured a temporary tent facility on the southern border the administration constructed to house the swelling number of separated children. He used the tour to distance himself from the administration’s policy. “This really isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue,” Hurd told CNN following the tour. “This is an issue about how should you treat children.”
Meanwhile, divided Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill are trying to show results on the issue of illegal immigration ahead of midterm elections in which centrists and conservatives are facing competing demands from voters.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.[3]
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References
- ^ Conway, first lady say they dislike separations of immigrant families, but don’t call for end to policy (www.marketwatch.com)
- ^ SUV carrying 14 and fleeing Border Patrol crashes in Texas, killing at least 5 (www.marketwatch.com)
- ^ An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com. (www.wsj.com)
- ^ Is the party over for Nevada’s legal brothels? Possibility of ban looms. (www.wsj.com)
- ^ Attention, Amazon Prime members who shop at Whole Foods: You’re in luck. (www.wsj.com)