A top White House adviser is distancing the Trump administration from responsibility for a jump in the number of migrant children being separated from their parents by American authorities at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Kellyanne Conway tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that "nobody likes" pulling apart families.
“As a mother, as a Catholic, as somebody who’s got a conscience… I will tell you that nobody likes this policy,” Conway said.
“Congress passed the law that it is a crime to enter this country illegally. So if they don’t like that law, they should change it,” she added.
Nearly 2,000 children were separated from their families over a six-week period in April and May after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a new "zero-tolerance" policy that refers all cases of illegal entry for criminal prosecution.
Conway rejects the idea that President Donald Trump is using the kids as leverage to get Democrats to negotiate on immigration and his border wall.
But she says, "If the Democrats are serious, they'll come together again and try to close these loopholes and get real immigration reform."