Ethel Kennedy has hit back at President Trump’s Executive Order to stop the separation of families at the US-Mexico border.
Founder of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and long-time immigration activist Ethel Kennedy has spoken of her husband RFK’s vision for America in condemning President Trump’s Executive Order.
On Wednesday, Trump signed the order which he said would keep his “zero-tolerance” immigration policy in place but would now keep immigrant families together in the jail-like facilities, putting an end to the family separations taking place at the US-Mexico border. The order came after he and his administration received intense backlash for separating 2,300 children from their parents over the course of six weeks in April and May.
Kennedy, however, warned that this order was not enough to protect families attempting to enter the US or those claiming asylum, hitting out at the policy as one that was using young children as a bargaining tool in order for the President to convince Democrats to agree to his border wall.
Read more: What you can do to tackle Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policy
Statement from @RFKHumanRights founder and long-time immigration activist Ethel Kennedy on President @RealDonaldTrump's insufficient response to our immigration crisis. pic.twitter.com/ppVRpLxT0J
— RFK Human Rights (@RFKHumanRights) June 21, 2018
“This is not a time to declare victory and go home. We can do better,” Kennedy, 90, declared.
“Generations of Americans did not toil and sacrifice to build a country where children and their parents are placed in cages to advance a cynical political agenda. When he decided to seek the White House in 1968, Bobby said, ‘Peace, justice and compassion towards those who suffer. That’s what the United States should stand for.’
“We need to find that compassion in all of us.”
I hope you'll take a moment to read my mother's statement on @RealDonaldTrump's smokescreen Executive Order. It solves nothing. That's why @RFKHumanRights is headed to Texas this weekend: to advocate for a humane solution to our immigration crisis. https://t.co/lDfhh2CJVY
— Kerry Kennedy (@KerryKennedyRFK) June 21, 2018
Her daughter Kerry Kennedy also commented on the Executive Order, claiming that it "solves nothing" and announcing that the RFK Human Rights Foundation, of which she is the President, would be traveling to Texas to "advocate for a humane solution."
Read more: Irish native is leading fight against Trump immigration policies in Texas
Crossed Paso del Norte from El Paso into Ciudad Juárez after being turned away by HHS at the Trump Administration’s tent city in Tornillo. #KeepFamiliesTogether pic.twitter.com/31MjVwSr0b
— Rep. Joe Kennedy III (@RepJoeKennedy) June 17, 2018
On Sunday, Ethel Kennedy's grandson Congressman Joe Kennedy III traveled to Texas to protest the family separations, referencing his own family's history of immigration from Ireland and the discrimination they faced.
What do you make of Kennedy’s statement? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section, below.
Comments