Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade had a rather stunning requirement for treating children in a way that isn't considered by doctors to be "government-sanctioned child abuse": their citizenship status. Speaking on Fox News on Friday morning, Kilmeade defended President Trump's policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border, saying: "Like it or not, these are not our kids. Show them compassion, but it's not like he's doing this to the people of Idaho or Texas."
Kilmeade added as justification: "These are people from another country." Trump signed an executive order Wednesday asking a federal judge to amend a court ruling to allow children to be detained indefinitely with their parents, rather than have them be separated at the border.
What he leaves out, of course, is that they aren't just people — they're children. While distinguishing between citizens and non-citizens is reasonable in certain situations when the people in question are adults, it's of course a whole different story when you're talking about unaccompanied minors. Watch Kilmeade's comments below. Jeva Lange
The Week
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