Kathy Castor: “I thank my friend for yielding time, because I was compelled to come to the floor this morning to protest this cruel…”

“I thank my friend for yielding time, because I was compelled to come to the floor this morning to protest this cruel Trump GOP policy of family separation. This is a new policy. Under past Presidents, when people come to this country legally asking for asylum because they are fleeing violence, domestic violence and gang violence in other countries, it is legal to request asylum in the United States of America. But under this new Trump policy that is so cruel and so horrible, he is trying to send a message to the world that this is an anti-immigrant country. We are not. He is trying to send a message to this world that children can be used for pawns. We are not going to let that happen. President Trump and the GOP now want to use children as bargaining chips to try to exact concessions from Democrats on a very anti- immigrant, very cruel, very wasteful policy, and we need people across America to stand up and speak out. The calls to my office are overwhelming. People think this family separation policy that rips children away from their families is horrible and cruel, and it is. And we need you to keep the calls coming. We are not going to let this happen. We are not going to let children continue to be ripped away from their families, but we need backup. We are here to say we stand with the families. We love these children. Everyone should love these children, and we are not going to put up with Trump's anti-immigrant, hateful policy any longer.”