Harris trots out children separated from families under Trump’s immigration policies

The Harris campaign on Wednesday trotted out children separated from their parents under former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies in an effort to court Hispanic voters ahead of next month’s election.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ camp decried the family separations under Mr. Trump. even as she vowed to get tougher on immigration if elected president.

At an event in South Florida, near where Mr. Trump will face Latino voters at a Univision town hall later Wednesday evening, some who were separated from their parents shared their stories.

The children, who are now teenagers, have since been reunited with their parents but talked about the trauma they suffered as a result of the separation.

One of the children, who was identified only as “Billy” said he came to the U.S. as a 9-year-old in 2018 and was separated from his dad for 40 days.

Billy talked about how he was detained for days in a cold room at an immigration center that had no beds, covers or sheets. He alleged that officials lied to him and repeatedly told him that he would see his dad the next day, only to be separated from his father for 40 days.

During that time, Billy said he moved to a foster family in New York, where he was informed that he had a new family and would never see his dad again.

“The emptiness that I felt when they told me that I wasn’t going to see my family again was something out of this world and something that no kid should go through during those 40 days,” he said, describing the time as “suffering and pain.”

He said he still experiences fear from that moment and lives in fear that a second Trump administration would separate more families.

A teenage girl told a similar story of being separated from her mom, who stood alongside her during her remarks. She also recalled being placed in foster care and being detained in a cold room at an immigration center.

The Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy of referring all illegal migrants for federal criminal prosecution led to children being separated from their parents who were sent to jail.

The press conference was part of Ms. Harris’ effort to connect with Latino voters. Although she has a comfortable lead over Mr. Trump with Latino voters in swing states, she is polling well below former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Biden in 2016 and 2020, respectively.

The move also comes weeks after Ms. Harris proposed stricter immigration standards to cover a political vulnerability and push back against Mr. Trump’s core message that Democrats are soft on immigration enforcement.