Sen. Lindsey Graham on Tuesday blasted states that are suing over the Trump administration’s new rules that would allow families to be held while they’re awaiting deportation proceedings, saying that finding solutions on immigration could ultimately lie in sending people to Washington, D.C., who “don’t hate Trump.”
“These states are supporting the magnets of illegal immigration,” the South Carolina Republican said on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”
“Shame on these states. Shame on the District of Columbia,” said Mr. Graham, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. “The Congress should change our laws to allow you to hold minor children and their families long enough to process their claim[s] so you don’t let them out into the interior of the country.”
The Trump administration announced last week that the new rules will allow migrant families to be held together while their cases are being heard by immigration judges, superseding a 20-day limit set by a 2015 court settlement.
“If you bring a minor child, we can only hold [the] child for 20 days. We turn the child over to Labor-HHS. Since you don’t want to separate families, we’ll let the entire family go, so they’re continuing a bad practice,” Mr. Graham said, referring to the Department of Health and Human Services.
On Monday, a coalition of state attorneys general said they were suing to try to block the new rules, as Democrats argue that the Trump administration’s immigration policies are inhumane.
SEE ALSO: Dem states sue to stop DHS plan to detain illegal immigrant families
But Mr. Graham, who has helped author various compromise immigration bills over the years, said Democrats are now being obstinate on the issue.
“Send people to Washington who don’t hate Trump,” he said. “I can’t get one Democrat to agree to allow children to be held with their families humanely for 40, 50 or 100 days so we can process their claims. They literally want them to be released in the United States.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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