Speed Reads

let's get this straight

Trump continues to lie about Democrats being responsible for breaking up families at the border. They're not. He is.

President Trump tweeted an unmistakable lie Friday afternoon in an attempt to shuck responsibility for his administration's new heavily criticized "zero tolerance" policy that involves separating children from their parents when families are apprehended for illegally entering the U.S. "The Democrats are forcing the breakup of families at the border with their horrible and cruel legislative agenda," tweeted Trump, although the policy is entirely his own and there is no such law mandating separation.

Trump has repeatedly tried to pass off the policy, announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in May, as being a "horrible law" written by the Democrats. In fact, it was Sessions who publicly announced, "If you don't want your child separated, then don't bring them across the border illegally." While there is no formal law requiring children to be separated from their parents, the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy is meant to deter families who are considering illegal entry into the United States.

Take a look at what it's like inside a child migrant detention center in Texas here.