Martin Heinrich: “I thank my colleagues Senator Tom Udall and Senator Richard Blumenthal for joining me to visit the southwest border last…”

“I thank my colleagues Senator Tom Udall and Senator Richard Blumenthal for joining me to visit the southwest border last week. We went to the border to seek answers and to demand accountability for the very real human impacts of President Trump's cruel and unnecessary policy of separating children from their parents. The permanent trauma these policies are inflicting on parents and their innocent children, many of whom are refugees who are fleeing violence and seeking asylum, is inhumane and horrific. Taking thousands of children--some as young as infants and toddlers--away from their parents and detaining them as a form of punishment or deterrence is ineffective and morally indefensible. After all, under the rule of law, refugees who flee violence have a right to request asylum. As of now, only about 500 children of the over 2,000 children in custody have been reunited with their families since President Trump signed an Executive order last Wednesday that ended his family separation policy. There is still no clear plan from the White House that ensures all children will be reunited with their families. This is simply unacceptable. This crisis was born from malice, and, frankly, it has been inflamed by incompetence. As an American and as a father, I will not just sit by. What we saw last Friday along the border, which has been ground zero for President Trump's so-called zero tolerance policies, has had a profound impact on me.…”