Stephen Colbert explains Trump's 'failed gamble' on immigration and deplores its cost to migrant children


Customs and Border Protection chief John Sanders is stepping down amid reports of deplorable conditions for detained child migrants, Stephen Colbert said on Tuesday's Late Show. "You know what they say: When the going gets tough, the tough go, 'Good luck with that, sucks to be you.'" He imagined Sanders trying to explain "violating the Geneva Conventions" during his next job interview, unsuccessfully: "I'm sorry, but you're just not Chuck E. Cheese material — and may I remind you, we terrify children with a giant animatronic rat."
President Trump threw Sanders under the bus then "made mouth sounds with the hole about his 'concern' for children," Colbert said. "But Trump is wrong and he knows it. This crisis is not some mistake caused by a sudden rush to the border. People who work down there say it's the result of a failed gamble on the part of the Trump administration that a succession of ever-harder border policies would deter the flood of migrants coming from Central America. And it's not Trump's only failed gamble — his original idea for the border was the Trump Taj Matrocity and Child Hotel."
Colbert said what makes the United States great "is what we believe in — all men are created equal; life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness" — but "the problem with high ideals" is that "you actually have to live up to them, and with these kids on the border, we're not just failing to live up to our own standards," but also the standards of Somali pirates and the Taliban.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump's "courageous defense of his policies" is the lie that they are actually Barack Obama's policies, Colbert said. "Mr. President, you're not fooling anybody. We all remember that you ran on a racist, anti-immigration platform, and you're still running on it today. At this point, the only family separation America wants to see is yours from the White House." Watch below. Peter Weber
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime minister
In the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
‘Extraordinary asymmetry’: the history of Israeli prisoner swaps
In The Spotlight Exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian detainees is the latest in a series of trades in which Israeli lives appear to count for more
-
October 14 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Tuesday's political cartoons include peace in Palestine, government playoffs, and barking up Pam Bondi's tree
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literature
Speed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91
Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year