Jul 14, 2019
Trump official Ken Cuccinelli blames Congress for border crisis
Acting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ken Cuccinelli blamed Congress for the conditions of border detention facilities.
"I have a lot of respect for our ICE officers. They're loyal and compassionate, but they have a job to do and it's a tough one. It's made a lot tougher when you have a lot of people in Congress throw the vitriol at them that they are when they're just doing their jobs and following the laws that Congress put in place. "— Cuccinelli on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday.
The big picture: President Trump has announced ICE raids will begin today, while Cuccinelli refused to comment on whether they had. "I can’t speak to operational specifics and won’t," he told CNN's Jake Tapper.
- Ultimately Cuccinelli turned the blame back on Congress: "When Congress provides the professionals at the border what they need, success happens. The conditions, he added, are "a reality of facilities not designed to handle the swamping at the border."