WASHINGTON, D.C. — After the Trump administration's immigration "zero tolerance" policy that resulted in the separation of thousands of children from their families stoked outrage over the weekend, the President commented on it today from the White House.
He said immigration problems are the fault of Democrats, and that the Democrats will not "come to the table" instead of "playing politics."
"We need borders ... we have to take care of our people," Trump said.
"The United States will not be a migrant camp, and it will not be a refugee holding facility...not on my watch," he said.
Earlier Monday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen defended the Trump administration's highly scrutinized immigration policy while at the same time calling on Congress to change the law.
Data shows a roughly 5 percent uptick in the number of people caught crossing the border from Mexico into the United Stated illegally when compared to figures from April, including a big jump in unaccompanied children.
So far, the Trump administration's policy has resulted in the separations of least 2,000 children from their families.
The separation of migrant families at the US border is becoming a bigger story by the day, and not just in America. News outlets around the world are also looking askance at what's happening as a result of the Trump administration's recent policy change.
Newsrooms have been surging resources to the border region in recent days. Journalists are receiving access to detention centers, albeit with restrictions, and seeing that some children are being kept in cages. Other children are staying in dorm-like settings.
On "Fox & Friends," co-host Steve Doocy disputed whether children at a facility in McAllen, Texas, were really being held in "cages," the way the Associated Press and other major news outlets said.
Pictures released by Customs and Border Protection on Sunday showed the cages really clearly -- contradicting a previous pro-Trump talking point that cages weren't being used.
At one point on Monday, Doocy said the authorities simply "built walls out of chain-link fences." He also said it looks "more like a security pen to me." But he said he recognized why some people called them "cages."
The new fallback position is that the Obama administration used the same kinds of facilities to hold unaccompanied minors.
There's also a lot of media-bashing going on. On Monday morning, Department of Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told people in a speech not to believe what they're seeing.
"It's important to understand that these minors are very well taken care of. Don't believe the press," she said.
