'We Cannot Allow All Of These People To Invade Our Country,' Trump Tweets On Undocumented Immigrants
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WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) – The immigration issue continues to divide Washington and the Trump administration isn't backing down in its push for strict border controls.
In fact, President Trump doubled down on his zero-tolerance approach to border security.
"We want strong borders and we want no crime," Trump said. "We want a system that when people come here illegally, they have to go out."
The policy led to children being separated from their families at the border, until the president signed an executive order last week stopping it.
More than 2000 children are still in federal custody.
Lawmakers in Florida have visited multiple facilities in the Miami-area that are housing children that were separated from their families.
"There must be a way to both keep families together and enforce our country's immigration laws," said Rep. Carlos Curbelo.
The White House continues to demand that Congress pass a bill overhauling the nation's immigration system.
"This is a question of human values: you don't separate children," said Sen. Bill Nelson.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions says until that happens, the laws already on the books will be enforced.
"If we refuse to prosecute these adults for illegal entry, as many of our critics want us to do, that would be a disservice, I think, to the people of this country," Sessions said. "And most importantly, it would encourage, and has already encouraged, more adults to bring more children."
House republicans are now working on another immigration bill after a hardline proposal failed and a consensus measure stalled.
The new bill is narrowly focused on addressing child separations.
GOP leaders say they're hoping to bring the immigration bill up for a vote this week, before they leave for a 4th of July recess.
