Republican congressmen intend to boost pressure on President Donald Trump to do away with the "zero tolerance" immigration policy of separating children from their undocumented parents crossing the U.S. border, Axios reports.
Trump is expected to be personally confronted on the issue when he meets with House Republicans on Tuesday, with some saying that the media-savvy Trump is aware that the images shown on television of traumatized families at the border might put his administration in a bad light.
However, other sources say that the president, knowing the power of these images, is using it as leverage, and will try to get funding for a border wall or other concessions for changing the policy.
But Republicans, worried about the upcoming midterm elections, say Trump’s efforts to place the blame for the separated families on the Democrats will not work in the long run.
There have been more than 2,000 minors separated from their parents since the administration enacted the “zero tolerance” policy in April, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Another GOP voice weighing in on the issue is former first lady Laura Bush, who made a rare statement on politics by calling the policy cruel and immoral, CNN reported.
Bush even said that the "images are eerily reminiscent of the Japanese American internment camps of World War II, now considered to have been one of the most shameful episodes in U.S. history."
Religious leaders, including key Trump allies, also faulted the morality of the separations last week.
However, CNN pointed out that it is unclear whether the images of separated families has the power to change entrenched political positions that have prevented almost two decades of efforts in Congress to reform the immigration system.
Republican Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, whose district includes large stretches of the border with Mexico and who is in a tight race for his seat in November, distanced himself from Trump’s policy as he visited a temporary tent facility the administration built to house the increasing number of separated children, according to The Wall Street Journal.
However, other Republicans have continued to make that case for Trump, with former chief strategist Steve Bannon saying there was no reason to be defensive about the policy.
Trump has insisted that family separations would end if Congress adopts tighter border security, including offering funding for a border wall.