UPDATE from @PressSec, per pool: "The briefing will be delayed until 5pm so that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen can join me and answer questions regarding immigration."
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Nielsen also made clear that DHS could consider a lack of documentation of familial status to be a reason for separating parents and children.
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The law does not require the zero-tolerance policy that the administration has decided to use as its justification for separating parents and children.
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"They separated families," Nielsen says, referencing the Obama and Bush administrations.
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Nielsen: "The kids are being used as pawns by the smugglers and traffickers." / In response to a question about the family separation being used as leverage for the bill (with wall funding)
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Nielsen says it's "incorrect" to say that people seeking asylum are being turned away from ports of entry. "We're not turning them away," she says, saying they are telling people to come back when they don't have space. (Which is turning them away.)
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IN SUM: Nielsen told the press that a discretionary policy decision — zero-tolerance enforcement — was a "law" that created this problem. Then said that people need to seek asylum at ports of entry — even though people seeking asylum are being turned away from ports of entry.
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Nielsen also repeatedly conflated unaccompanied minors with family separation.
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Beyond everything else, this is an extraordinarily dense argument because there was so much outrage over the Kate Steinle's killing that it fueled a significant portion of Trump's campaign.https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1008829142576652295 …
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Incredible that in the middle of this, Nielsen literally says, "What has changed is that we no longer exempt entire classes of people who break the law. Everyone is subject to prosecution." This change is *precisely* what led to this separation crisis. https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1008836005292474369 …pic.twitter.com/ZM2VtvZobJ
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Hence, they know exactly what's going on, know they've created this crisis, and know they could stop it. It makes Nielsen et al's "offense" and blank stares and claims that the law requires this all the more intolerable as an explanation.
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So, they are using children for leverage. The end.https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/1008841282901499904 …
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Oof. Looks like Susan Collins has turned a corner:https://twitter.com/frankthorp/status/1008842785359908866 …
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Republicans Say They Don’t Like Trump’s Family Separation Policy But It's Not Clear What They'll Do About It https://www.buzzfeed.com/paulmcleod/republicans-say-they-dont-like-trumps-family-separation?utm_term=.gg53yY3pb … from
@pdmcleod &@LissandraVillaShow this thread -
Trump Keeps Telling Us There's A Crisis At The Border. The Numbers Say That's Not True. https://www.buzzfeed.com/adolfoflores/trumps-crisis-at-the-border-not-backed-by-numbers?utm_term=.spD86K8xy … by
@afloresShow this thread
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I attempted to explain that it was not a law to a Trump supporter. It was a mistake I will not repeat. The Fox News talking points are on lock.
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Here’s where Nielsen admitted they made a change that led to this crisis:https://twitter.com/chrisgeidner/status/1008839584598327296?s=21 …
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I don’t even know how you prove that your child is yours. Birth certificates are in the language of the country that they’re fleeing. Are they providing on the spot verification? Because if not the outcome is the same. Your child is gone.
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Can ANYONE tell me what happens when a family with children presents themselves at an official port of entry with a request for asylum. Do those families stay together?
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They get turned away - because no one in this administration is the least bit interested in serving families fleeing violence and persecution.
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