'It's intentional. It's a policy choice being made by this administration and it's cruel and inhumane,' Democratic Illinois Representative Lauren Underwood said.
A tense exchange on the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border unfolded Wednesday as Democratic Representative Lauren Underwood appeared to accuse Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan of enforcing"cruel and inhumane" policies resulting in the intentional deaths of migrant children.
"Now, Congress just provided half a billion dollars in February to address the humanitarian crisis at the border and will soon provide more," Underwood said. "Why do these tragedies keep happening?" "People keep dying and so this is obviously more than a question of resources. Congress has been more than willing to provide the resources and work with you to address the security and humanitarian concerns, but at this point with five kids [now, six] that have died, 5,000 separated from their families, I feel like the evidence is really clear that this is intentional," Underwood said."It's intentional.
Asked to clarify on her statement, Underwood said:"I said that this is more than a question of resources. Congress has been more than willing to provide resources and to work with you, Mr. Secretary, to address the security and humanitarian concerns and at this point, with five children dead and 5,000 separated from their families, this is intentional. It's a policy choice being made on purpose by this administration and it's cruel and inhumane.
The two representatives then debated over Underwood's choice of words, with the Democrat asserting:"I did not say 'murder,' I said that five children have died as a result of a policy choice."Referring to McAleenan, Underwood expanded:"He has said that he stands by the policy decisions of this administration. That's what he said at the beginning of his testimony. And he says he stands by the budget request. This is a policy choice.
Last week, a 2½-year-old child also passed away while under federal custody after he was hospitalized for pneumonia.
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