Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), who is set to become the next House Judiciary Committee chairman, on Wednesday denounced President Trump’s immigration policies, saying the administration is “apparently willing” to let migrant children die.
“This is inhuman, and it’s not precedented,” Nadler said on “CBS This Morning.” “It’s is a deliberate creation of the Trump administration, which is trying to make things as miserable as possible. And if kids die, they’re apparently willing to have that.”
{mosads}Nadler made the comments while speaking about the government shutdown, as well as the recent deaths of two migrant children — 8-year-old Felipe Gómez Alonzo and 7-year-old Jakelin Caal Maquin — who died after being taken into federal custody last month.
He said the administration’s “inhuman policies” are meant to “deter people from coming to the border and claiming political asylum.”
“In order to do that, we’ll make them as miserable as possible, and unfortunately that means that kids die,” Nadler said of the administration.
He added that the House Judiciary Committee would hold hearings on the migrant children’s deaths and “subpoena witnesses and documents if necessary.”
“We’ve asked for all relevant documents as to why kids are dying in custody of Department of Homeland Security, why families are being detained” he said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who will soon lead the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Sunday that the panel would hold hearings on the deaths of migrant children.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said earlier this week that “it’s been over a decade since we’ve had a child die anywhere in our processes.”
He added that the recent deaths were “absolutely devastating for us on every level.”
Trump last week cast blame on Democrats, tweeting that “any deaths of children or others at the Border are strictly the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they can enter our country illegally.”
“If we had a Wall, they wouldn’t even try! The two children in question were very sick before they were given over to Border Patrol,” he added.