Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Q If I could follow up, though. For the hundreds that are not included in there - you said 10,000 - but for the hundreds that we have seen - perhaps up to 2,000 - are there any examples of child abuse, do you believe? And how could this not be child abuse for the people who are taken from their parents? Not the ones who are sent here, with their parents' blessing, with a smuggler, but the people who are taken from their parents?

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: Unfortunately, I am not in any position to deal with hearsay stories. If someone has a specific allegation, as I always do when I testify, I ask that they provide that information to the Department of Homeland Security. We will look into it. Of course, we do not want any situation where a child is not completely adequately taken care of.

    Yes.

    Q A couple of questions. One, why is the government only releasing images of the boys who are being held? Where are the girls? Where are the young toddlers?

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: I don't know. I am not familiar with those particular images.

    Q You don't know where they are? Do you know where the girls are? Do you know where the young toddlers are?

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: We have children in DHS care - both. But as you know, most of the children, after 72 hours, are transferred to HHS. So I don't know what pictures you're referencing, but I'd have to refer you to HHS.

    Q We've seen images of boys, but we just haven't seen any of the girls or any of the young toddlers. And you're saying that they are being well cared for. So how can you make that claim if you don't know where they are?

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: It's not that I don't know where they are. I'm saying that the vast majority are held by Health and Human Services. We transfer them after 72 hours. I don't know what pictures you're speaking about, but perhaps there are -

    Q The pictures have been released to public; they've been aired all over national television.

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: Okay. By DHS? Or by HHS?

    Q By DHS.

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: Okay. So let's find out from HHS. I don't think there's anything other than (inaudible) pictures.

    Q They were released by your department. I mean, they've been aired all over national television throughout the day - the kids who are being held in the cages. We've only seen the boys.

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: I will look into that. I'm not aware that there is another picture.

    Yes.

    Q Secretary, let me just follow up very quickly, because you continue to insist that this is something that Congress can change -

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: Yes.

    Q - and yet this is something that was enacted after the Attorney General announced the zero-tolerance policy. This never happened before he announced the zero-tolerance policy.

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: That's actually not true. So the last administration -

    Q Well, we've never seen this under previous administrations.

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: - the Obama administration, the Bush administration all separated families at the -

    Q We didn't see kids separated from their parents.

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: They absolutely did. They did - their rate was less than ours, but they absolutely did do this. This is not new.

    Q There were unaccompanied minors, there's no doubt about that. But this -

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: They separated families.

    Q - separating kids at this rate from their parents is something new and specific to this administration once the Attorney General announced the zero-tolerance policy. So why doesn't the President pick up the phone and change the policy? He said he hates it.

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: I think what the President is trying to do is find a long-term fix. So why don't we have Congress changes the laws to change -

    Q (Inaudible.)

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: No. Congress could fix this tomorrow.

    Yes. I think you were next, right?

    Q Yeah. Madam Secretary, President Trump has had a lot to say the last few days about immigration, but he's offered no compassion to the families that are being separated at the border. Do you know why that is? And why won't he simply pause your department's enforcement of this administration policy until Congress reaches that long-term fix so that these families can be reunited?

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: He has been attempting to work with Congress since he's been in office. He's made it very clear that we will enforce the laws of the United States as long as this administration is here. As part of that, he has continually reached out to Congress to fix this. And I think what you've seen him do in the last few days is that: is continue to tell Congress, "Please work with us." The system is broken. The only people that benefit from the system right now are the smugglers, the traffickers, those who are pedaling drugs, and terrorists. So let's fix the system.

    Yes.

    Q That didn't answer the question. And does he feel any compassion for the families that are being separated? He has talked about the parents being possible criminals. He has blamed it on Democrats. He has offered no words of compassion.

    THE PRESIDENT: I think he has said in tweets that he would like Congress to act to end the underlying laws that require the separation.

    Q Madam Secretary, it seemed like a couple days ago, both the President and in your tweets, that the main posture or point was to say that this is not the administration's policy. But it seems like, in the last couple - well, today - that the message is a little different; is to say, well, this is our policy, but it's our policy because either we believe it's a deterrent or we don't believe we have the resources to move families entirely.

    And I'm just wondering - I want to make sure we get the reporting right - which of those is the most precise way to describe how the administration feels? And given the blowback by a number of Republicans as well as Democrats, are you considering rethinking this based on feedback? Or is this the administration's position going forward - period, paragraph?

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: The laws prohibit us from detaining families while they go through prosecution for illegally entering the border, and while they go through prosecutions for immigration proceedings. If we close the loopholes, we can keep the families together, which is what they did in the last administration until a court ruled that we can no longer do that. After 20 days, we have to release both unaccompanied children and accompanied children - which means that we cannot detain families together. The only option is to not enforce the law at all.

    Yes.

    Q Okay, so going back to these two questions from Kristen and Margaret, you said that you want Congress to close some loopholes. With that, you also said that you want to make this work. Now, are these kids being used as pawns for a wall? Many people are asking that. And Democrats are saying this is your discretion and there is no law that says that this White House can separate parents from their children.

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: The kids are being used by pawns by the smugglers and the traffickers. Again, let's just pause to think about this statistic: 314 percent increase in adults showing up with kids that are not a family unit. Those are traffickers, those are smugglers. That is MS-13. Those are criminals and those are abusers.

    Q When did -

    Q Just let her finish.

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: So - thank you. All I'm trying to say is, closing that loophole will enable us to detain families together throughout the proceeding as they've done in previous administrations.

    Q Madam Secretary. Madam Secretary, can you definitively say, are the children being used as pawns against - for a wall. Yes or no? Can you say yes or no to that?

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: The children are not being used as a pawn. We are trying to protect the children, which is why I'm asking Congress to act.

    Yes.

    Q (Inaudible) as the legal framework for the decisions that your administration has made. What we're seeing - the pictures, the audio, the stories - are they an intended consequence of the administration's decision-making or an unintended consequence?

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: I think that they reflect the focus of those who post such pictures and narratives. The narratives we don't see are the narratives of the crime, of the opioids, of the smugglers, of people who are killed by gang members, of American children who are recruited, and then, when they lose the drugs, they're tased and beaten.

    So we don't have a balanced view of what's happening. But what's happening at the border is the border is being overrun by those who have no right to cross it. As I said before, if you're seeking asylum, go to a port of entry. You do not need to break the law of the United States to seek asylum.

    Q People are being turned away from ports of entry, Madam Secretary.

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: That actually is incorrect. We have limited resources. We have multiple missions at CBP. And what we do is, based on the very high standards we have, if we do not have enough bed space, if we do not have enough medical personnel on staff, if we do have enough caretakers on staff, then we will tell people that come to the border they need to come back. We are not turning them away. We are saying: We want to take care of you in the right way; right now, we do not have the resources at this particular moment in time. Come back.

    Q Thank you very much. Are you intending for this to play out as it is playing out? Are you intending for parents to be separated from their children? Are you intending to send a message?

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: I find that offensive. No. Because why would I ever create a policy that purposely does that?

    Q Perhaps as a deterrent.

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: No.

    Q AG Sessions says it was a deterrent.

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: The way that it works -

    Q The Attorney General said it was a deterrent.

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: That's not the question that you asked me.

    But the answer is, it's a law passed by the United States Congress. Rather than fixing the law, Congress is asking those of us who enforce the law to turn our backs on the law and not enforce the law. It's not an answer. The answer is to fix the laws.

    Q Will the administration refrain from its current policy if Congress were to pass something that's close to what you want? Or will it continue to require the separation of parents from their children until the President gets exactly what he wants?

    SECRETARY NIELSEN: If Congress closes the loopholes, some of which - many of which are closed in the two bills that we hope are taken up this week by the House, then they close the loopholes and the families will stay together throughout the proceedings.

    Thank you.

    MS. SANDERS: Thank you, Secretary Nielsen.

    I'll jump right in and go to other questions, news of the day.

    Steve.

    Q The President said he would talk with the North Korean leader, Kim, yesterday. Do you know if that happened?

    MS. SANDERS: I know the President has spoken with a number of administration officials that are working on the details following the North Korean summit, and we'll keep you posted on those details. But I'm not aware of a specific call between the two leaders at this time.

    Q To follow up - there's a report that the United States and South Korea have agreed to suspend joint military drills in August. Is that real?

    MS. SANDERS: I'm sorry, I didn't hear the last part of the question.

    Q That they've agreed to suspend joint military drills in August. Are you aware of this? Is this true?

    MS. SANDERS: Those conversations are ongoing at this point. As long as the North Koreans continue to act in good faith, as we saw in Singapore, then we expect those things to be on pause at this point.

    Bill.

    Q Yes, Sarah. Has the President discussed the family separation policy with the First Lady, in light of her statement yesterday? And does he have any plans to come out and address the American people? Maybe take some questions about how his administration is enforcing the policy.

    MS. SANDERS: The President did take a number of questions, as I'm sure you're all aware, on Friday, in which - what he actually said very closely mirrored what the First Lady said. He said he hates seeing this. He's called on Congress - not just Friday, but for months - he's called on Democrats in Congress to work with him; let's fix this problem. The President isn't trying to kick the can down the road. He's actually trying to work with Congress to get real solutions and to fix the problem, and that's what we're doing.