Hillary Clinton has lashed out at the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy that has separated many children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Responding to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s controversial invocation of Romans 13 to justify the widely contested policy, Clinton took to Twitter to express her defiance:
Those who selectively use the Bible to justify this cruelty are ignoring a central tenet of Christianity. Jesus said "Suffer the little children unto me." He did not say “let the children suffer.”
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 18, 2018
“Those who selectively use the Bible to justify this cruelty are ignoring a central tenet of Christianity,” Clinton wrote.
“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 in a press conference on the policy last week. “Orderly and lawful processes are good in themselves and protect the weak and lawful.”
‘This is a moral and humanitarian crisis.’ — @HillaryClinton is calling out the Trump administration for detaining immigrant children pic.twitter.com/7MumjlplZQ
— NowThis Impact (@nowthisimpact) June 18, 2018
“I’ve studied the Bible, both the Old and the New Testament,” Clinton said Monday at a Women’s Forum of New York awards lunch. “What is being done using the name of religion is contrary to everything I was ever taught.”
What’s happening to families at the border right now is a humanitarian crisis. Every parent who has ever held a child in their arms, every human being with a sense of compassion and decency, should be outraged.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 18, 2018
Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton also took to social media to call out the White House for its immigration policy.
“On this Father’s Day I’m thinking of the thousands of children separated from their parents at the border,” President Clinton wrote on Twitter Sunday. “These children should not be a negotiating tool. And reuniting them with their families would reaffirm America’s belief in & support for all parents who love their children.”
Former First Lady Laura Bush has also spoken out on social media, along with Michelle Obama:
Sometimes truth transcends party. https://t.co/TeFM7NmNzU
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) June 18, 2018
Despite the cross-party outrage at the policy, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen stood firm during a special White House press briefing on the issue held Monday, according to CNN.
When quizzed as to whether the separation of children from their parents amounts to “child abuse,” Nielsen replied, “We have high standards. We give them meals and we give them education and we give them medical care. There are videos, there are TVs. I visited the detention centers myself.”
“Our policy at DHS is to do what we’re sworn to do, which is to enforce the law,” she added.
Nielsen insisted that these children were not being used as a political bargaining chip, and urged Congress to get together in order to pass a common-sense immigration policy that secures the U.S. border.
“The children are not being used as a pawn,” she said. “We’re trying to protect the children, which is why I’m asking Congress to act.”