The border patrol takes the children to an old warehouse, while they process their parents for the crime of "illegal entry" IGNORE INTO the US

According to data released by State Department officials, almost 2,000 children were separated from their parents between April and May as a result of the strict immigration policy announced by Jeff Sessions, United States Attorney General. The policy calls for massive raids and the imputation of criminal charges to those who cross the border, separating them from their children and prosecuting them as criminals.

Leer en español: ¿Cómo se defiende Trump ante el rechazo de su política migratoria?

The policy of "zero tolerance" was highly controversial and qualified as "inadmissible" by the UN, and even rejected by First Lady Melania Trump. The former first lady, Laura Bush, also spoke out against separating immigrant families. "I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international borders, but this policy of zero tolerance is cruel. It is immoral", he complained.

In the middle of the controversy that has brought the strict measures of the government of the United States, we ask ourselves: How does Trump defend himself from the rejection of his migratory policies? How does he justify separating children from their parents? This is the answer:

• Trump blames the Democrats:

The Twitter social network has been Trump's favorite platform to advocate for controversial border control measures. Some of his tweets say that Democrats are the culprits of separating families that come from Central America looking for a better quality of life.

It is the Democrats fault for being weak and ineffective with Boarder Security and Crime. Tell them to start thinking about the people devastated by Crime coming from illegal immigration. Change the laws!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 18 de junio de 2018

Another of his comments in which he washed his hands of the controversial immigration policy says that: 

The Democrats are forcing the breakup of families at the Border with their horrible and cruel legislative agenda. Any Immigration Bill MUST HAVE full funding for the Wall, end Catch & Release, Visa Lottery and Chain, and go to Merit Based Immigration. Go for it! WIN!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 15 de junio de 2018

• The President criticizes Europe for letting immigrants in:

The president also quoted mass migration in Europe as an example and judged immigrants for having an alleged negative influence on the culture of a country.

The people of Germany are turning against their leadership as migration is rocking the already tenuous Berlin coalition. Crime in Germany is way up. Big mistake made all over Europe in allowing millions of people in who have so strongly and violently changed their culture!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 18 de junio de 2018

Trump's statements are contrary to what the statistics show. While in Germany there is a problem of mass migration, crime levels are at their lowest point in decades. "The number of crimes committed in Germany is the lowest since 1992," Horst Seehofer, Minister of the Interior, said in a presentation of the police crime statistics for 2017 in Berlin. "The frequency of less than 7,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants is unprecedented, even in a comparison of 30 years," reported Seehofer.

• Trump relates the high migration with the crime:

Trump alleges that it is necessary to regulate migration to curb Central American gangs such as the Mara Salvatrucha.

Why don’t the Democrats give us the votes to fix the world’s worst immigration laws? Where is the outcry for the killings and crime being caused by gangs and thugs, including MS-13, coming IGNORE INTO our country illegally?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 18 de junio de 2018

If what Trump wants is to fight the gangs, separating Latin American children from their parents does not seem to be the best option. "When the gang was born on the west coast, mainly in Los Angeles, what happened was that they had these vulnerable children who lived in a violent environment, who were aliens in terms of language and in terms of culture," explained Héctor Silva Ávalos , researcher at American University who participated in extensive studies on MS-13. "That's what you're seeing again with unaccompanied minors. It is the ideal prey for the gang," said Silva.

Latin American Post | María de los Ángeles Rubio
Translated from “¿Cómo se defiende Trump ante el rechazo de su política migratoria?”