Republican senators: Migrant children shouldn’t be tear-gassed, but they shouldn’t be coming to the US either.
Much of the country was shocked when US Border Patrol agents used tear gas this past weekend on migrants attempting to seek asylum in America — including on families with small children.
Republican senators responded, however, that while the effect on children was unfortunate, the migrants should not have had their children with them in the first place.
“Well, nobody wants to tear-gas children,” said Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, the chair of the Homeland Security Committee, which has oversight over the agencies that conducted the tear-gassing. “The first solution there is that mothers shouldn’t be bringing children to the border to cross illegally.”
A Customs and Border Protection official issued a statement on Monday emphasizing that the use of force was necessary after migrants attempted to rush the border. Migrants were also captured on video throwing rocks at agents prior to the deployment of the tear gas, with the CBP official noting that four agents in protective gear were hit by rocks.
As Vox’s Dara Lind reports, this conflict was a culmination of months of tension over the impending arrival of migrants fleeing dire situations in their home countries — amplified by President Donald Trump’s explosive rhetoric on the campaign trail.
Lind writes: “Trump and conservatives see an invasion of hostile, criminal forces, while his critics see an unprovoked attack on vulnerable families.”
Indeed, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein (CA) called this use of force “repugnant” — and said it exposed the US as a “nation that is not fully Democratic.”
Republicans, even those sympathetic to the migrants, largely threw up their hands. “Right now, it’s tough for us to do anything that would change the immediate situation,” said retiring Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake.
Here’s how seven senators said Congress could respond to the Border Patrol’s use of tear gas this weekend.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI): “The first solution there is that mothers shouldn’t be bringing children to the border to cross illegally”
Li Zhou
What do you think Congress should do in response to the tear-gassing of children at the border?
Ron Johnson
Fix our immigration laws. What you’re seeing is an out-of-control immigration system, and this is the unfortunate result of that, where we continue to incentivize, we continue to reward people coming to this country illegally, and so they start banding together for a host of reasons, partly just safety. It’s a safer way of trying to come up here — and then trying to rush the border.
But people don’t realize that every day, we have 1,000 people, probably. These numbers are always changing, but probably at least 1,000 people coming to this country illegally claiming asylum. And we have hundreds more coming at the ports of entry without proper documentation. We have these incentives, these rewards for doing this — we’ve got to turn this into a legal process so it’s far more orderly, so people aren’t risking their lives, aren’t sending their daughters on a very dangerous journey where the low estimate is that 30 percent are sexually assaulted.
It’s up to Congress to fix these laws. We’ve been summarily unable to do that, and we need to work harder at it. That’s why I’m trying to propose the Families Act, trying to work with the administration, work with my Democratic colleagues. Let’s start fixing these loopholes ... that create these incentives. [Ed. note: Johnson’s Families Act is billed as reducing family separations, though the American Civil Liberties Union says it would simply push the government to jail entire families while they wait for their court date. For more, read Dara Lind’s explainer on the Flores settlement at Vox.]
Reporter
Can it impact the negotiations now? Trump is insisting on the $5 billion for the wall; that needs to be resolved by mid-December.
Ron Johnson
Unfortunately, I don’t see many negotiations in terms of actually fixing the immigration system. Right now, in terms of the appropriations process and funding the government, we’re in this back-and-forth of how much funding do we need to actually produce better barriers. We do need better barriers. I don’t know how many, what the extent is; I’d like to see the game plan on that.
I went to Israel — they did 142 miles [of barriers at the border] for about less than $3 million per mile. They didn’t have the problem of having to buy up land and all that. It’s very complicated. I haven’t seen the complicated game plan laid out there, but we need better barriers.
We also have to fix these laws. This is just not workable. We have to focus on the root cause of these problems, what’s incentivizing people, what’s rewarding people, and change those.
Li Zhou
In the interim, though, do you think you need to draw a red line at tear-gassing children?
Ron Johnson
Well, nobody wants to tear-gas children. The first solution there is that mothers shouldn’t be bringing children to the border to cross illegally. The other thing that’s not widely reported is that the vast majority — at least 70 percent of the unaccompanied children coming to this country illegally and apprehended are males, and they’re 15 or older. They’re not little 3-year-olds. They’re young men coming to this country. Some of them are definitely gang members. The Obama administration dispersed admitted MS-13 gang members into our interior.
[Fact-check: Johnson’s stat likely comes from a White House assessment released to the Washington Post in April, which said that 70 percent of undocumented minors who are detained at the border and “released” as part of a “catch and release” program are teenage boys. The number has not been independently verified. Additionally, though Republicans often like to blame Obama’s immigration policy for MS-13 activity in the US, MS-13’s growth in the US predates Obama’s presidency.]
So there’s the true reality of this. Listen, we’re a nation of immigrants. My heart goes out to people that want to improve their lot in life. I understand why people want to leave desperate situations. I’ve heard the stories. It’s horrific what’s happening in Central America, but they’ve got to do it through the legal process. We have to make that legal process work, and right now it’s not.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA): “We have laws that allow people to seek asylum. This is ridiculous.”
Li Zhou
What do you think Congress can do in response to the tear-gassing of children over the weekend?
Kamala Harris
We have to put an end to it. We cannot be tear-gassing children who are arriving at our borders seeking asylum because they are fleeing the murder capitals of the world. It’s not reflective of our laws. We have laws that allow people to seek asylum. This is ridiculous. They are doing what we imagine people who need to flee incredible violence would do.
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ): “It’s tough for us to do anything that would change the immediate situation”
Li Zhou
I was wondering if there’s anything the Senate can do to prevent the tear-gassing of children at the border.
Jeff Flake
Right now, it’s tough for us to do anything that would change the immediate situation.
Li Zhou
Is there anything Congress can do in the interim between now and a broader immigration fix that Congress can do to say that Customs and Border Protection can’t do this?
Jeff Flake
We’ve been trying for the broader fix for a while now.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA): “We can write a letter to the president. I’ll do that.”
Li Zhou
I was wondering what you think Congress can do in response to the tear-gassing of children at the border.
Dianne Feinstein
Well, that ought to stop. That tear-gassing of children goes on all over the world, and it shows this nation not as it is but as a nation that is not fully Democratic, and I saw it and I just found it repugnant.
Li Zhou
Are there concrete measures that Congress can take right now to make sure it doesn’t happen [again] tomorrow, for example?
Dianne Feinstein
Well, we can say something about it. We can write a letter to the president. I’ll do that. I’ll write a letter to the president.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX): “We’ve got to fix our policies that basically limit our ability to control uncontrolled immigration”
Li Zhou
I was wondering what you think the Senate should do in response to the tear-gassing of children at the border.
John Cornyn
We’ve got to fix our policies that basically limit our ability to control uncontrolled immigration. It’s hard to watch, but that’s not the root of the problem. The root of the problem is we simply — Congress hasn’t had the collective will — to fix the gaps in our immigration laws.
Obviously, we can’t open our borders and accept anybody and everybody who wants to come, or else we’d have millions of people moving in with us in an uncontrolled fashion that would be unfair to people who were trying to do it the right way.
Li Zhou
Is there anything Congress can do in the interim to prevent that from happening?
John Cornyn
We’ll be talking about it, for sure.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV): “They shouldn’t be bringing their children to the border when they know they can’t get in”
Li Zhou
Do you think the Senate needs to respond to the use of tear gas on children at the border?
Joe Manchin
They shouldn’t be bringing their children to the border when they know they can’t get in.
Li Zhou
Do you think the use of tear gas is justified?
Joe Manchin
I think we have to secure the border, that’s all I can tell you. That’s horrible; I hate that. I hate what you see with children, and families are going through. ... But there’s so much we don’t know. I think that the more humane way of treating this is if a mother, if a female and her children, and she’s concerned about their safety and welfare and well-being, she should be able to go to our embassies and our embassies should be able to house them and keep them safe as we basically vet them to see if they qualify for asylum into our country.
Right now, they have to spend X amount of dollars, I guess, to get someone to try to bring them here, and they end up in that caravan, and this is what we see, the end result. And it’s not good. It’s not humane; it’s not something we should be taking.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA): “When our agents are attacked, they should be allowed to respond”
Li Zhou
Senator, do you think Congress needs to take action against the tear-gassing of children at the border?
John Kennedy
I understand that our Border Patrol agents were attacked. And when our agents are attacked, they should be allowed to respond.
Li Zhou
But what if it affects children in addition to adults?
John Kennedy [to the group of reporters]
Anything else, guys? I got to go vote.
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Breaking News: We asked 7 senators how Congress should respond to the tear-gassing of children at the border - News Paper
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