Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) slammed President Trump on Friday over his administration’s forced separations of migrant families suspected of entering illegally, and said that the policy has done little to deter illegal immigration.
The former 2016 GOP primary contender on Friday sent a tweet referring to “real, hard data” reported by the Dallas Morning News showing that border crossings rose despite the controversial policy.
“Here’s real, hard data showing that separating families at the border hasn’t worked,” Kasich tweeted. “Now Washington must focus on finding real solutions that keep families together and fix our broken immigration system.”
The Dallas Morning News said that there had been a 38 percent increase in arrests of families for illegal border crossings in August, despite the Trump administration’s zero tolerance immigration policy being in effect for several months.
{mosads} The report concluded that August 2018 was the highest August on record in a year that has already set records for arrests and detention of families along the U.S.-Mexico border.
It cited statistics released earlier this week by the Department of Homeland Security.
“This means no one is being deterred,” Adam Isacson, a security analyst with the Washington Office on Latin America told the Dallas Morning News. “And whatever is pushing them out of Central America is even stronger.”
The separations of families detained at the border are the result of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy for people who cross the border illegally, though administration officials have expressed contradictory views about whether it’s meant to have a deterrent effect.