Sarah Sanders Says Ripping Children From Their Mothers at the Border is the Law: It's Not

by Amy Russo | 4:51 pm, June 14th, 2018

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders used Thursday’s media briefing to repeat the administration’s claim that splitting up families at the U.S.-Mexico border was warranted “because it’s the law.” The only problem with that answer is that it is patently false.

The response, given to CNN’s Jim Acosta who demanded to know why the government was taking such actions, was used by President Donald Trump in a tweet last month in which he claimed there is a “horrible law that separates children from there [sic] parents” at the border.

However, there is no law ordering the division of migrant families, according to PolitiFact. The rule to which Sanders appears to have been referring is the administration’s zero-tolerance policy on illegal immigration, calling for authorities to prosecute those who do not cross the border legally.

Trump has also pinned the blame for the non-existent law on Democrats, as Sanders also did today, recycling the president’s rhetoric.

In mid-May, he attempted to sympathize with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen regarding the issue, stating,”I know what you’re going through right now with families is very tough, but those are the bad laws that the Democrats gave us. We have to break up families.”

The fact that the policy was created under the Trump era throws a monkey wrench into the blame game the administration appears to be playing, while raising legitimate questions as to why Sanders would continue to repeat claims this month despite no such law being on the books.

The only cause for children being removed from families is the policy to prosecute their parents.

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https://www.mediaite.com/tv/sarah-sanders-says-ripping-children-from-their-mothers-at-the-border-is-the-law-its-not/