On Friday's Andrea Mitchell Reports, MSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff misleadingly claimed that hundreds of illegal immigrants were deported before they were "able" to collect their children without noting that, according to Trump administration officials, many of them declined the opportunity to take their children with them, possibly hoping that the children will succeed in attaining asylum and indefinite residency.
Referring to ACLU demands that the government locate deported immigrants who are presumably in their home countries to ask them if they wish to arrange to get their children back, host Mitchell accused the Trump administration of "trying to shirk" its responsibility. Mitchell: "The Trump administration is today trying to shirk the responsibility to reunite more than 500 children still in government custody."
Without noting reports that deportees were typically given the chance to take their children with them when they left, Soboroff began:
We know that 410 parents from that group were deported before they were able to be reunified with their children. What is most extraordinary, though, Andrea, about what we learned in this latest filing late last night, is that the administration is essentially suggesting that the ACLU now go take responsibility for tracking down and reuniting these children with their families.
He then complained:
So, to say it as clearly as I can, the party that separated these children from their parents is now saying, "Look, we got sued. If you guys want to reunite these kids, you go find them yourself, and we'll do our best in helping you do that." It's pretty extraordinary.
