Bill Clinton blasts family separation: 'Children should not be bargaining chips'
The Hill ^ | 06/22/18 | Justin Wise
Posted on 6/22/2018, 11:53:41 AM by yesthatjallen
Former President Bill Clinton this week slammed President Trump's "zero tolerance" policy that resulted in separating families at the border, saying that "children should not be bargaining chips."
“Taking these kids away from their parents makes no sense,” Clinton said Thursday at an event for his new book in Chicago, according to CNN. “It’s wrong. It’s immoral. It’s not required by the law. And it’s not necessary to protect the border. It’s just wrong."
He added that “children should not be bargaining chips," and that "they are people."
"I not only want this to stop, I want them to go get these kids that have already been sent away and give them back to their parents and do it right now," he said.
Clinton's condemnation of the policy comes two days after the president signed an executive order to end a policy that resulted in thousands of children being separated from their parents. It is not yet clear how or when the families already divided under the policy will be reunited. The administration began implementing the policy widely in April.
Trump signed the order after facing increasing pressure from Republican and Democratic lawmakers. Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was one of the many people to criticize the policy and Trump's defense of it earlier this week.
“Separating families is not mandated by law at all. That is an outright lie," she said. "It’s incumbent on all of us, journalists and citizens alike, to call it just that.”
Many lawmakers continue to question the Trump administration over the policy. On Thursday, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) tweeted that Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen privately told lawmakers that despite Trump signing an executive order, the practice of separating families could continue.
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