The American Independent

Not one Republican supports bill stopping Trump's attack on families

Donald Trump listens to a question during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, May 9, 2018, in Washington.


Not a single Senate Republican has signed on to Democratic legislation to stop Trump's policy of separating children from their families. Meanwhile, Trump continues to blame Democrats for his own actions.

Republican senators have refused to sign on to legislation that would end Trump's policy of separating families at the border.

Over a week after the legislation was introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), no Republicans have co-sponsored the Keep Families Together Act.

The legislation would prohibit the separation of children from their families at the border, unless officials can decide that it is in the best interest of the child's safety.

In her statement accompanying the introduction of the bill, Feinstein said, "Congress has a moral obligation to take a stand and say that families should not be forcibly separated. Many of these families are fleeing terrible violence, traveling thousands of miles on foot for the chance to file an asylum claim and save their lives."

"To traumatize them further is unconscionable, and I hope that our Republican colleagues will work with us to put an end to this immoral policy," she added.

The legislation was introduced on June 7. After more than a week of availability, 39 members of the Democratic caucus have signed on as co-sponsors.

There are 51 Republicans constituting the majority party in the Senate. Not a single one of them has cosponsored the bill.

The inaction runs in stark contrast to Trump's baseless complaints in response to massive backlash to his anti-family policy.

He has insisted that Democrats are to blame for the fallout from a decision made by his own administration.

Trump chose, in a departure from his two predecessors, to prosecute border crossers and trigger family separation.

Not only did his administration make the decision of their own volition — before the issue began to blow up in their faces, they actually hailed it as a necessary deterrent to immigration.

In fact, both Trump's press secretary Sarah Sanders and his attorney general Jeff Sessions invoked bible verses to justify it.

But now in the Senate, where his party has the majority and the ability to control the legislative agenda, they haven't lifted a finger to undo the harm being inflicted on families.

The Republican failure to support the Keep Families Together Act shows that, as has been the case on so many issues, there is little separation between Trump and the Republican Congress.

They are working in concert to hurt immigrant families — and together, they are doing nothing to stop it.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.