Bredesen ‘horrified’ by separation of illegal immigrant parents from children; Blackburn blames liberals

Statements from U.S. Senate candidates Marsha Blackburn, Republican, and Phil Bredesen, Democrat, as reported by The Tennessean, on separation of children from their parents when detained at the U.S.-Mexico when suspected of trying to enter the country illegally:

“As a mother, my heart breaks for the families who are separated at the border, but we are in this position because liberals would not pay to enforce our immigration laws or build appropriate facilities for asylum seekers,” the Republican congresswoman and candidate for U.S. Senate said in a statement released by her congressional office.

“Liberal judges ruled that meant we couldn’t keep kids with their families,” Blackburn said. “That lapse in judgment put us in the difficult position of choosing between enforcing our laws or keeping families together. We don’t have to choose if we fix this problem, secure our borders and keep people from coming across our border illegally and choosing to put their families in danger.”

Blackburn, who is seeking the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Bob Corker, did not say whether she believes the Trump administration should end the policy.

… Blackburn’s likely Democratic opponent in November, former Gov. Phil  Bredesen, soundly condemned the separation policy.

“At our border with Mexico, our country is taking terrified little children from their parents and incarcerating them in camps behind chain link fences,” he said in a statement. “The whole process is secret—the press has been prevented from doing their job. Any normal American is horrified.”

Bredesen said the separations are no longer Trump’s problem—”It is America’s problem,” he said.

“Thankfully, we live in a strong nation, full of parents, faith leaders and many others from all parts of the political spectrum who have condemned this policy,” Bredesen said. “We have placed ourselves on a morally bankrupt path. Today, the real test of our strength as a nation is not whether we’ve made a mistake, it’s whether we recognize where we’ve failed and fix it. Now.”