Migrant kids die

Nadler: Trump administration ‘apparently willing’ to have migrant kids die

By ELI OKUN

Incoming House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler blasted the Trump administration Wednesday for the recent deaths of two migrant children in government custody, placing the blame squarely on the White House and its policies.

The Trump administration has faced an avalanche of criticism in recent months over immigration policies that separated thousands of children from their parents who brought them illegally into the U.S. That criticism has grown recently in the wake of the deaths of two immigrant children in U.S. custody.

“This is inhuman, and it’s not precedented,” Nadler (D-N.Y.) said on “CBS This Morning,” referring to the suite of zero-tolerance policies the administration has imposed at the border. “It’s a deliberate creation of the Trump administration, which is trying to make things as miserable as possible. And if kids die, they’re apparently willing to have that.”

Nadler said the House Judiciary Committee will hold hearings and “subpoena witnesses and documents if necessary” on the issue. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who will lead the Senate Judiciary Committee, said this weekend that he will convene hearings as well.

Trump administration spokespeople did not immediately return an email seeking a response to Nadler's remarks on CBS.

The Guatemalan children, 7-year-old Jakelin Caal and 8-year-old Felipe Gomez Alonzo, died in separate incidents shortly after crossing the border last month. They were the first such deaths in U.S. custody in more than a decade.

Although Nadler argued Wednesday that the Trump administration is willing to tolerate such deaths in pursuit of its immigration agenda, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said this weekend that he considered the deaths “absolutely devastating.” McAleenan said agents had done all they could and that the government was changing some procedures in the wake of the two deaths.

But President Donald Trump reacted to the deaths by pointing the finger at Democrats. He also appeared to assign some blame, contrary to other evidence, to Jakelin’s father for her death.

Nadler’s broader point — that the administration designed zero-tolerance policies like family separations to work as a deterrent — has been backed up repeatedly by administration officials, including former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former White House chief of staff John Kelly. The administration first announced the policies publicly in April 2018.