Washington, D.C. -Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, issued the following statement on President Donald Trump’s Executive Order reversing his family separation policy:
“President Trump is the author of this cruel and immoral chapter in our nation’s history, and he will forever have his name affixed to it. He held these children hostage for his own political purposes. He is finally caving, if one can call it that, only because of relentless national and international condemnation from Republicans, Democrats, and everyone in between.
“For weeks the Trump Administration has lied to the American people, claiming over and over again that the President could not stop his heartless policy of ripping infants, babies, and toddlers from their parents’ arms. Today’s reversal addresses the immoral policy of separating children from their families, but it retains the ‘zero tolerance’ policy that disregards valid asylum claims, criminally prosecutes everyone, and is completely silent on what will happen to the children already taken from their parents without any recognizable system for reuniting them.
“President Trump appears incapable of comprehending the harm he is causing to thousands of children and their families who are fleeing incredibly dangerous violence for the hope of a better life-instead choosing to demagogue them as insects, animals, and sub-human.
“Today, I call on the Oversight Committee to start the process of accounting for every single child the Trump Administration separated from his or her parents in the name of the United States of America."
