--- title: Trump Falsely Claims Obama Began Migrant Family Separations description: President Trump dismissed the plight of children in detention centers and claimed that Obama enacted the migrant family separation policy. canonical: https://time.com/5612868/trump-obama-family-separation/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-06-23T16:03:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:52:43.722Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Falsely Claims Obama Began Migrant Family Separations og:description: 'This has been happening long before I got there,' Trump said of the policy og:url: https://time.com/5612868/trump-obama-family-separation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7677365293cb36de/6989fef709208f8aa1415233/south-american-migrants-trump-obama-family-separation.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Trump Claims Obama Began Migrant Family Separations og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Falsely Claims Obama Began Migrant Family Separations twitter:description: 'This has been happening long before I got there,' Trump said of the policy twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7677365293cb36de/6989fef709208f8aa1415233/south-american-migrants-trump-obama-family-separation.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Falsely Claims Obama Began Migrant Family Separations > Sponsored content. 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A group of activists decide to take matters into their own hands after thousands of children are separated from their parents at the border._ by [Alex Wayne / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Alex Wayne / Bloomberg Contributor Jun 23, 2019 4:03 PM UTC  Immigrants are pictured behind the fences of a temporary facility set up to hold them at the El Paso Border Patrol Station, on June 21, 2019. Immigrants are pictured behind the fences of a temporary facility set up to hold them at the El Paso Border Patrol Station, on June 21, 2019. Paul Ratje—AFP/Getty Images by [Alex Wayne / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Alex Wayne / Bloomberg Contributor Jun 23, 2019 4:03 PM UTC President Donald Trump dismissed the plight of migrant children housed in U.S. detention centers and falsely claimed that his predecessor enacted a policy to separate kids from their caregivers after they illegally cross the border. Asked in an interview broadcast Sunday about recent reports that migrant children have been held in Customs and Border Protection detention centers for weeks without sufficient food, medical care or even basic hygiene supplies such as soap or toothpaste, Trump brushed off responsibility. “This has been happening long before I got there,” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “You know, under President Obama you had separation. I was the one that ended it. Now I said one thing, when I ended it I said, ‘Here’s what’s going to happen. More families are going to come up.’ And that’s what’s happened.” Trump’s interview coincided with a string of reports about children held in substandard condition in Border Patrol facilities, including a New Yorker [article on Saturday](https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/inside-a-texas-building-where-the-government-is-holding-immigrant-children) that described flu and lice outbreaks going untreated, and children sleeping on cold floors. The hashtag #CloseTheCamps was trending Sunday on Twitter. “They’re really coming up for the economics,” Trump said of the stream of migrants attempting to enter the U.S. “But I ended separation. I inherited separation from President Obama.” That isn’t true. While President Barack Obama’s administration detained migrant children who entered the U.S. alone, it didn’t have a policy to separate children from caregivers when they crossed the border together. That practice emerged in 2018, under Trump, after his then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a policy known as “zero tolerance” that called for all migrants who crossed the border outside official ports of entry to be arrested and detained. Trump ended family separations with an executive order in July 2018 after bipartisan outrage among the public and lawmakers, though there have been periodic reports that the practice continues less systematically. The host of “Meet the Press,” Chuck Todd, said that Trump has made conditions in U.S. detention centers worse for children by scaling back recreation and education services. “We’re doing a fantastic job, under the circumstances,” Trump said. “The Democrats aren’t even approving giving us money. Where is the money? You know what? The Democrats are holding up the humanitarian aid. “If the Democrats would change the asylum laws and the loopholes, which they refuse to do because they think it’s good politics, everything would be solved immediately,” Trump said. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Along the Southern border hundred of children remains separated from their parents. That's the situation for Yelly Marcel Gonzales Garcia living that kind of nightmare. After 43 days in the custody of U. S. immigration authority. Yeni Gonzalez was released on bail. The bail was paid by some families, mothers who are in New York city. She's making her way to New York to find her kids. It has been very difficult, very hard for me. I felt that my heart broke into a thousand pieces. They snatched my children from my arms. [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] I actually heard about Yeni through a text message, someone who is close with one of the organizers said hey someone is going to be released from detention tomorrow night, can you help coordinate transportation to Albuquerque And can you be there, Eloy, to support? And so I said, yeah for sure, I'm in. It really started as soon as I heard Jenny's lawyer talking about the fact that he knew she was in Eloy in Arizona. She knew that her kids were at Cuyahoga in New York. And he said she could actually go through her whole immigration proceedings in New York. If she could just get to New York from Arizona. And I thought certainly within my own community of friends and family and acquaintances that it would be possible to do that for one person. And so why not try? When we got in the car it was just quiet for a little bit. And And she would kinda ask questions and say things and she definitely appreciated the beauty of the desert and then some of the flatlands. She was like, isn't that pretty? So that was a lot of conversation, but for the most part it was quiet. Watching her from the rearview mirror just looking out in the distance and Such a focused look. And I don't know if she was imagining what she had been through. If she was thinking of what she's about to go through, but I just know it was focused and it was strong. [ FOREIGN ] [ LAUGH ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] Yes, yes. Jameli? I'm here. The man showed us a photo of when we were all together, and I just wanted to cry. What? [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] Deyuin keeps crying too. He cries, and cries, and cries. And this morning, I was putting on my socks, and he hit me in the head. And he needed to put on his socks and shoes too. [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ SOUND ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ FOREIGN ] I just want to hug them and kiss them. It's just so hard. I just want them by my side already and to never be separated from them again. [ SOUND ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ INAUDIBLE ] I think it's just all getting to me- [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Her story, everyone else's that were not here. I don't know why, but just seeing how beautiful [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Yesterday how she said she hadn't been outside. [ SOUND ] I guess it finally got to me. [ SOUND ] [ FOREIGN ] > [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] When I had dropped off in Albuquerque it was very weird, it was someone that I didn't even know for 24 hours, and it was just a feeling of. A feeling of hope, a feeling of helplessness, a feeling of worry. We don't know what's gonna happen. But just a feeling of I wanted her to be OK. [ FOREIGN ] [ LAUGH ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] What is driving through the night? What is driving five hours Through the line. What is that compare to what Jenny must have experienced? Bringing three kids from Guatemala through Mexico through the Arizona desert. I mean, there's just ridiculous to think that five hours. Driving in the night is, how is that? [ BLANK_AUDIO ] An inconvenience, or a struggle of any kind. You know what this feels like to me? This feels like a modern day underground railroad Road is what it feels like to me. Even though Yenni is travelling legally to New York city, the fact that she doesn't have enough documentation that would allow her to travel by plane or by bus So this system of drivers and hosts along the way, people opening up their Houses as refuge, it just, [ MUSIC ] It seems like a perfect parallel to the underground railroad, like trying to move a vulnerable body to a safer place. [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] How do you say, how do you say We are sorry for our President, and our laws. And sorry. [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] So, how do you say, [ LAUGH ], I am also an immigrant? [ FOREIGN ] That's one of the general baseline rules. Like you don't mess with kids, right? Like, you don't mess with babies, you don't make them pawns. And I that that was something that for I think many, many people who maybe don't normally consider themselves activists or they don't consider themselves to be political necessarily. It touched something in them and it made them want to act. I think she knew people were gonna drive her across the country. I don't think she was expecting as much care and as much attention. Definitely not as much attention. But it was touching for her. Many of us didn't know each other before this week, and it was just incredible. How many people just acted, they showed up, and they said, I'm here to do this, just tell me what to do and I'll do it. And they did, and there was Nobody had this sort of, guide that ship. Everybody was going with it together. [ MUSIC ] From the beginning the idea was never solely To just do this for one person. It was if this works, which would be a miracle, can it be replicated? You want to tell us who to call? Yeah, sorry. [ LAUGH ] Okay, so our official name now is immigrant Families Together. Let's maybe turn for a minute to our plan for Monday. I just wanna re- emphasize every single person in this room right now and every single person on this call right now has Jenny's best interest at heart. We wanna stage maybe six spots along the route once they come into New York. Where we have hundreds of people waiting with welcome signs along these spots on the route. So it's really critical that we have massive turnout at each of these spots so that it becomes something that is impactful. i said on Facebook yesterday that I've gone to bed every night this week totally awed by all of you and what you bring to the table. And A former social worker, I've been involved in social justice since I was a child. And I've never seen anything like this. Julie wants a picture. Can I send her a picture? [ LAUGH ] Right here? [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ FOREIGN ] [ LAUGH ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] I am friends will Julie, who started the campaign in New York. And so she had told me that they needed a driver from Pittsburgh to New York on the last stretch, or the second to last stretch. And so we immediately jumped at the chance. I think we've both been so Desperate to contribute in some sort of positive way to this catastrophic situation. All right. [ FOREIGN ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] I grew up in a tiny village in Mexico and some of my family members migrated to the North or [ FOREIGN ], illegally without papers. This was like in the 90s so things were a little bit different at that time. And I was lucky that I was able to do it. Legally, to have the opportunity, so I just feel like there's a lot for me to pay off, to pay back. [ FOREIGN ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ] [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ] [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ FOREIGN ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] [ FOREIGN ] When I got home there was a call and we were talking about everything that was gonna happen in New York. And I was just picturing her. Everyone very well intended. Mentioned everyone trying to make this work. But I felt like who's gonna be there for her? So he kinda said, all right, well let me get out there. [ FOREIGN ] I called her, and I said hey, turns out I'm going to be in New York to be there for you. And she kind of got quiet and said, [ FOREIGN ], that's good because I was missing you. [ LAUGH ] So, today, Yanni Gonzalez is arriving after a cross country road trip And so all of us have gathered here just with our signs and our solidarity to welcome her to New York City. We wanna let her know that there are people in this country who love that she's here, who welcome her here, and are working hard to make sure that she and her children will stay together and not be separated again. We are trying to show her support, mostly to To make her feel comfortable that this is America's for everyone we want our Want For example I am a Muslim and I'm a sham in the meantime my networks are like wired another way says black Hispanic so we want to get the live in the neighborhood like civilized. [ APPLAUSE ] Yeni, Yeni, Yeni, Yeni. [ UNKNOWN ] [ SOUND ] [ FOREIGN ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ FOREIGN ] This is just grown. And I think that shows what can happen when people Stop wishing they could do something and stop just putting on Facebook, you know, this is wrong. And start figuring out, okay how can I help? Because that's what did this. It wasn't one person who drove across the country. It wasn't one person who gave the whole $ 7500 to take her out. I'm pretty sure each donation has been a small donation. Okay. Love you. [ FOREIGN ] [ SOUND ] [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ] I wanna send a message to all the mothers that are still detained And Eloi? [ FOREIGN ] And I want to send a message to all the mothers that are fighting, that with the help of people like Julie, they're going to come out of this. We've said before and we'll say it again, we are going to do this, if we have to, one by one to do what the government is not going to do. [ MUSIC ] I don't know if I've ever bought into the narrative [ SOUND ] That America is a place for everyone. [ FOREIGN ] The home for tired [ UNKNOWN ] masses yearning to be free, I actually don't think we've done so great at that in many ways. [ MUSIC ] I don't think that we can look away from that, even as we are Admiring just like how generously people showed up for this. [ MUSIC ] Jenny shouldn't have to have gone and her children shouldn't have to have gone through what they went through to a welcoming country. It wasn't a welcome, and it doesn't have to be that way. I hope we get better on that welcoming because we've got a lot of work to do. 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