On Tuesday's All In show, MSNBC viewers got to see the latest example of the liberal news network not only conflating legal asylum seekers with those who cross the border illegally and only seek asylum after they are apprehended, but also of putting all the blame on the Donald Trump administration for actions that were also taken by the Barack Obama administration.
At 8:48 p.m. Eastern, MSNBC host Chris Hayes introduced the segment by recalling a recent federal court ruling demanding that the Trump administration lessen the detention time for asylum seekers. Even though immigrants who legally go to ports of entry and apply for asylum through the proper process are normally not detained except under unusual circumstances, Hayes gave the impression that legal asylum seekers were generally receiving similar treatment as those who break the law:
President Trump has taken some truly extreme steps to stop legal asylum seekers fleeing violence and persecution, but a federal judge now says the administration has gone too far. Now, we've reported on accounts of U.S. border agents stopping asylum seekers from coming into ports of entry -- stopping them at the bridge.
We've reported on a spike in immigrant detention rates and, of course, the Department of Justice is making it essentially impossible for those fleeing gang and domestic violence to even obtain asylum. And then there is the intentional cruel policy of taking away the children of people who, once again, immigrated and asked for asylum legally.
A federal judge late yesterday the administration cannot simply detain asylum seekers arbitrarily in just the latest legal blow to the Trump administration's immigration policy.
ACLU deputy legal director Cecillia Wang then appeared as a guest, and similarly did not make a distinction between those who cross the border illegally and those who apply for asylum without breaking the law first. She also cited the case of a Haitian asylum seeker whom she recalled has been detained for "more than a year and a half" without noting that he was first jailed in late 2016 while Obama was still President.
Wang complained that the asylum seekers who are suing the federal government "are the victims of the Trump administration's policy of having blanket detention of people who are seeking asylum for the purpose of deterring people from applying for asylum in the United States."
As the segment wrapped up, Hayes slammed the Trump administration as he concluded:
There are no words strong enough to describe how vile it is to use a child that you have taken from a parent who is fleeing danger as a hostage frankly in trade for them to sign away their asylum claims which are protected both under international law and American law. It is unconscionable indeed.
