Senate Candidates Split On Blame For Family Separation Policy

Both the Democratic and Republican candidates in Indiana’s Senate race say the U.S. should not separate parents from their children at the border. But those candidates don’t agree on who’s to blame for that policy.

Incumbent Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) joined his fellow Democrats on a bill to end the Trump administration’s family separation policy. The administration requires criminal prosecution of all who enter the country illegally - children are taken from parents detained for criminal charges. Yet many argue some of those families are legally seeking asylum.

The President says his administration has no choice. And he falsely blames Democrats for the policy, which Donnelly disputes. 

“President Bush didn’t do this; President Obama didn’t do this," Donnelly says. "This was a decision made by the administration.”

In a statement, Republican Senate candidate Mike Braun says families shouldn’t be separated. But he says Congress’s inaction on immigration is to blame and that it’s up to Congress to fix it.

Braun did not say whether – if he were in the Senate now – he would join the Democrats’ bill to end the policy.

Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) has not indicated whether or not he will support the measure, but said in a statement that “the government must make sure to reunite families expiditiously.”

"Our immigration system has been broken for far too long," Young said. "We must solve this humanitarian and national security problem once and for all – as I have voted to do."