On Wednesday’s edition of New Day, co-host Alisyn Camerota interviewed Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) about the current illegal immigration crisis. In the interview, Camerota pushed many of the misleading talking points that have dominated the airwaves on CNN. When the Congressman countered them with facts, she continued to push the talking points as well as falsely defending the Obama administration.
The first major lie that Camerota pushed regarded the origin of the separation of families practice. She said “This is a new zero tolerance policy where they must be separated.”
The truth about this matter is more complicated. It originates from two different court rulings. The first is the 1997 Flores Settlement. This settlement said that unaccompanied minors, including those who cross the border illegally cannot be held in custody for more than twenty days. The second court ruling occurred during the Obama administration, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals extended that ruling to children who crossed the border illegally. The “new policy” that Camerota speaks of doesn’t explicitly state that the immigration officials must separate families. What it does say is that the Trump administration will prosecute all border crossings. This means that when families are arrested, by law the immigration officials cannot hold the families in custody together. They must either separate the family or release the whole family. Goodlatte correctly pointed this out replying:
It is a new policy for some people but children have been separated from their parents under previous administrations and in this administration prior but now with the zero tolerance policy, if you are apprehended across the border you're automatically going to be placed in prosecution and the department of justice doesn't have the facilities to take care of the children therefore they are being placed elsewhere.
Goodlatte also pointed out that because of those court rulings, there were instances of children being separated from their families during the Obama administration. Camerota sprang to Obama’s defense, leading to this exchange:
GOODLATTE: During the Obama administration there were plenty of children --
CAMEROTA: Those were unaccompanied minors. Those were unaccompanied minors. These are separated from their parents intentionally as a deterrent as we've heard from the administration. This is different, congressman.
GOODLATTE: It is true in both instances and the Obama administration did it until a court said they couldn’t do it.
CAMEROTA: Those were unaccompanied minors.
GOODLATTE: No. There were unaccompanied minors and there were families with children as well.
After her defense of the Obama administration was disproven, she moved onto the next New Day talking point, saying, “if the President can end it today and he can why not end it today while you hammer out the details of the legislation?” Goodlatte correctly pointed out while yes, the Trump administration could end the no tolerance policy, this would require a return to a catch and release policy in which “he has to allow these families to enter the interior of the United States.”
Then Camerota proposed what many Republican lawmakers have proposed which is to hold the families in custody together. However, as New Day has refused to report on during this crisis, Goodlatte said:
He can't do that. The law doesn't permit them to hold them for the department of justice more than 72 hours. That's a court ruling and for -- for the department of homeland security, 20 days. So that's -- that's the issue that has to be addressed. It has to be addressed legislatively and we are doing that.
Congressman Goodlatte managed to disassemble the nauseating amount misleading information that has dominated New Day’s coverage of this story. Their act of omitting basic information of the reasoning behind families being separated shows either a deliberate will to mislead the public or a radical inability to understand the basic nuance of this issue.
A transcript of the relavent segment is below.
New Day With Alisyn Camerota and John Berman
6/20/18
08:19:01 – 08:21:09
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Have you been in the past week as children are being separated from parents? Have you been there this round?
REP BOB GOODLATTE: I have not. No. But children have been separated from their parents for years.
CAMEROTA: No, no Congressman. This is a new policy. This is a new zero tolerance policy where they must be separated.
GOODLATTE: It is a new policy for some people but children have been separated from their parents under previous administrations and in this administration prior but now with the zero tolerance policy, if you are apprehended across the border you're automatically going to be placed in prosecution and the department of justice doesn't have the facilities to take care of the children therefore they are being placed elsewhere --
CAMEROTA: That’s right. 2,342 children is the latest number that we have. This is – I mean look. I'm listening to the administration saying that this is their new policy, that they decided.
GOODLATTE: During the Obama administration there were plenty of children --
CAMEROTA: Those were unaccompanied minors. Those were unaccompanied minors. These are separated from their parents intentionally as a deterrent as we've heard from the administration. This is different, congressman.
GOODLATTE: It is true in both instances and the Obama administration did it until a court said they couldn’t do it.
CAMEROTA: Those were unaccompanied minors.
GOODLATTE: No. There were unaccompanied minors and there were families with children as well.
CAMEROTA: So Congressman, I don't know what your answer is. I don't know what your answer is. Are you okay -- if the President can end it today and he can why not end it today while you hammer out the details of the legislation?
GOODLATTE: The President -- if he ends it, then he has to allow these families to enter the interior of the United States --
CAMEROTA: Hold them in detention
GOODLATTE: They give them court dates and they never return.
CAMEROTA: Hold them together in detention.
GOODLATTE: He can't do that. The law doesn't permit them to hold them for the department of justice more than 72 hours. That's a court ruling and for -- for the department of homeland security, 20 days. So that's -- that's the issue that has to be addressed. It has to be addressed legislatively and we are doing that.
CAMEROTA: Okay. I want to move on to what I know is really pressing for you to talk about and that is the inspector general's report.
