Bill Clinton Calls Out Trump Immigration Policies in Somber Father’s Day Message: ‘Children Should Not Be a Negotiating Tool’
In a Father’s Day tweet, former President Bill Clinton set aside celebration of the holiday and called out family separation at the U.S.-Mexico border, criticizing what he believes is the Trump administration’s use of children as a bargaining chip in the battle over immigration reform.
Clinton said the solution was family reunification, which he felt “would reaffirm America’s belief in & support for all parents who love their children.”
On this Father’s Day I’m thinking of the thousands of children separated from their parents at the border. These children should not be a negotiating tool. And reuniting them with their families would reaffirm America’s belief in & support for all parents who love their children.
— Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) June 17, 2018
The message received public support from former First Lady Hillary Clinton, who retweeted it with an enthusiastic “YES!”
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 17, 2018
The couple’s daughter, Chelsea Clinton, also took the holiday as an opportunity to advocate for migrant families, stating she “could not imagine being forcibly separated from my children as I sought sanctuary. No parent, no person should support this.”
On #FathersDay & every day, I could not imagine a better dad for Charlotte & Aidan than Marc. I also could not imagine being forcibly separated from my children as I sought sanctuary. No parent, no person should support this: https://t.co/uUNs6yFklD
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) June 17, 2018
The Department of Homeland Security announced last Friday that it had taken almost 2,000 children from their families as they crossed the border during just six weeks from April to May. The news has sent shock waves through both Democrats and Republicans opposed to such treatment of immigrants, prompting the administration to defend its “zero tolerance” policy that has caused the separations.
[Image via screengrab]
