Velázquez on Trump’s Separation of Families Policy

Washington, DC – Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) released the following statement today regarding the President's separation of families policy:

"Donald Trump created a crisis with his new policy of detaining children and then claimed he needed Congress to solve it. Today, he signed an insufficient Executive Order, saying he's solved the problem. The Administration's cruelty and heartlessness is rivaled only by its inconsistency.

"More importantly, for children ripped from their parents, the trauma remains and for families separated there is no guarantee of reunification. Going forward, alarmingly, this Executive Order means that, at best, families will now be detained together. Children will potentially remain for the long term in prison-like conditions. We should be working to see families released together, not detained. Donald Trump's entire ‘zero tolerance' policy must be reversed and we cannot rest until families are back together."