McCain calls on Trump to rescind family separation policy: It’s ‘an affront to the decency of the American people’

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called on the Trump administration to rescind its “zero tolerance” border policy at the southern border on Monday, calling the policy separating families “an affront to the decency of the American people.” 

The administration’s current family separation policy is an affront to the decency of the American people, and contrary to principles and values upon which our nation was founded. The administration has the power to rescind this policy. It should do so now.

— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) June 18, 2018

McCain’s criticism comes as the administration moves to defend itself from a barrage of bipartisan criticism. 

{mosads}Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) also called for the administration to end the policy on Monday, and GOP Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) announced he would be introducing legislation to end the practice. 

“While I have said that this is a policy discussion that needs to be had, in my view we should not have a policy designed to separate families, particularly mothers with young children, without a clear process and focus on the needs of the children,” Murkowski said in a statement. 

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders pushed back on the criticism during the White House press briefing on Monday, saying that the administration was simply enforcing the law, and pressed Congress to change the laws pertaining to the policy. 

“We’re not the ones responsible for creating this problem. We’ve inherited it,” Sanders said. “But we’re actually the first administration stepping up and trying to fix it.”