Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) really must insist: Don’t call the structures the U.S. government uses to house children after they’ve been apprehended at the border “cages.”
On Thursday, Cramer continued to protest that, no, the United States does not hold migrant children in cages.
He prefers the phrase “buildings that have, in some cases, walls that are made of chain link, so that it’s easier to observe and to protect them.”
Cramer is running for Senate against incumbent Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND). Perhaps this will be part of his platform: Chainlink rooms aren’t cages!
He already made the same point twice on radio shows Wednesday.
“You know, there’s nothing inhumane about a chain link fence,” he told KTGO. “If it is, then every ballpark in America is inhumane.”
The Customs and Border Protection cages are used to temporarily house children who are apprehended at the border.
Within days, the children are supposed to be transferred to the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services. The Office of Refugee Resettlement, a subagency of HHS, then places the children in shelters or foster homes.
Watch below:
@RepKevinCramer insists: We don't keep detained migrant children in cages, but rather in “buildings that have, in some cases, walls that are made of chain link, so that it's easier to observe and protect them.” pic.twitter.com/J7rRWQiPCB
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) June 21, 2018