5 of the Trump Administration’s Excuses for Separating Families at the Border, Debunked

Ask any given member of the Trump administration why it is systematically separating migrant families at the U.S.–Mexico border and—surprise!—you’ll get a totally different answer. Some blame it, rather nebulously, on “the Democrats”; others seemingly deny the “zero tolerance” policy Attorney General Jeff Sessions enacted earlier this year exists at all. It may be an evil-genius attempt at distraction from the inhumanity of the situation, or, more likely, that between President Trump, Sessions, and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, no one can get his or her story straight. Regardless, there is a heady mix of lies and excuses flowing forth from Trump and company, making it difficult to address the issue—and indeed the pressing problem—at hand.

Which is why we took five justifications the Trump administration is peddling for separating families and detaining children and decided to debunk them.

1. It’s the Democrats’ fault!

When asked about families being separated at the border in an impromptu interview on Friday, Trump deflected. “The Democrats forced that law upon our nation. I hate it. I hate to see separation of parents and children,” he said. “That’s a Democrat bill.”

Trump repeated as much on Twitter on Monday morning.

In fact: There is no law, be it Democrat- or Republican-sponsored, that orders undocumented families be separated at the border. The only mandate in place to do that comes courtesy of the Trump administration itself, which enacted a brand-new “zero tolerance” policy vowing to criminally prosecute adults attempting to pass into the U.S. through Mexico, jailing an increased number of parents, and, as a result, detaining their children elsewhere. (In the past, adults were subject to civil proceedings and possible deportation, which do not require separation.)

Trump seems to have selective amnesia when it comes to the fact that his own top staffers have openly admitted to this policy over the course of the past year. Chief among them, AG Sessions, who said in a radio interview earlier this month: “It’s certainly not our goal to separate children, but I do think it’s clear, it’s legitimate to warn people who come to the country unlawfully bringing children with them that they can’t expect that they’ll always be kept together.”

As for Trump’s insistence that Democrats somehow control the current border crisis, think again: Republicans sit in power not only in the White House, but in the majority in both houses of Congress. As for what actual law Trump may be talking about/distorting for his own purposes here, it’s unclear, but one guess is that he may be referring to the fact that Republicans are scrambling to come up with an immigration bill that would likely need Democratic support to pass.

2. The Bible made us do it.

The Bible has been invoked to justify all kinds of horrible things (see: Gay marriage is a sin), but Sessions got mighty creative when he pointed to Scripture to justify separating children from their parents—in some cases deporting parents while keeping children in U.S. custody.

“I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order,” Sessions said last week. “Orderly and lawful processes are good in themselves and protect the weak and lawful.” Sanders, again doing the bidding of nationalist men, parroted: “I can say that it is very biblical to enforce the law.”

In fact: Religious thought leaders say there’s nothing biblical about tearing apart parents and children. As theologian Candida Moss wrote for CNN: “From the stories about the patriarchs, to the biblical prophets, and Jesus himself, the Bible is insistent that foreigners, strangers, and travelers deserve hospitality and care.”

Religious groups have called proverbial bullshit, with the heads of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian organizations dispatching letters and statements to the president, pleading with him to revoke the zero-tolerance policy. Even the Rev. Franklin Graham, a supporter of President Trump and the son of late evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, decried it: “I think it’s disgraceful; it’s terrible to see families ripped apart, and I don’t support that one bit.”

3. This is all just a figment of your imagination.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen had a very clever explanation for the U.S. government separating children from their families on Sunday, which was to seemingly pretend that it actually was not happening at all.

In fact: As Twitter seemed to collectively reply: “Gaslighting much?” Tempting as it may be to write this all off as a fever dream, see the above detailing of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy. Nielsen apparently came to and remembered it on Monday, finally owning the position at a new press conference: “We have to do our job. We will not apologize for doing our job . . . this administration has a simple message: If you cross the border illegally, we will prosecute you.”

4. The Trump administration is simply enforcing an old immigration law.

This one comes to us courtesy of Sanders’s now-viral news conference last week: “The laws are the ones that have been on the books for over a decade, and the president is enforcing them,” she proclaimed.

In fact: Again, there was no previous mandate for migrant families be separated at the border. So what are Sanders and the rest of the “alternative fact” coalition even talking about? According to the AP: “Trump’s repeated but nonspecific references to a Democratic law appear to involve one enacted in 2008. It passed unanimously in Congress and was signed by Republican President George W. Bush. It was focused on freeing and otherwise helping children who come to the border without a parent or guardian. It does not call for family separation.”

5. The children really aren’t being kept in cages.

Early reports that migrant children were being held in cages seemed too horrific to believe. And certainly, for the Trump administration, too horrific to admit to. Then the photos surfaced—and apologists sputtered into overdrive, including Fox News host Steve Doocy, and, according to CBS This Morning, border patrol officials themselves.

In fact: “Walls out of chain-link fences” are cages. And while we’re at it, there were no “very fine people” among the white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia; an FBI informant is not a “spy”; and, once and for all, there is no such thing as an “alternative fact.” It’s time to call a spade a spade—and a cage a cage. It is not the Democrats or a law long on the books that is responsible for the atrocity currently plaguing our Southern border; it’s entirely and completely the idea and the execution of the Trump administration. And there is nothing surprising about it. Trump has broadcast his bleak view of Mexican immigrants since the day he declared his candidacy; now—no excuses—he’s just following through on it.