Rubio on family separation: "We don't have the capacity to hold families together"
Sen Marco Rubio, R-Florida, says that while the Trump administration is "doing the best they can" to meet a July 26 deadline for reuniting families that were separated the U.S.-Mexico border under the administration's "zero tolerance" policy, he says the government currently doesn't "have the capacity to hold families together."
"We don't have hundreds of facilities designed to hold families, which is one of the challenges in doing this, and one of things I've pointed to. So I think they are doing the best they can with those limitations, and hopefully they'll get as many of those families together as possible," Rubio told "Face the Nation" on Sunday.
Rubio cited a court mandate that would require the government to "allow people to go free" if the administration doesn't meet the deadline.
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- Transcript: Sen. Marco Rubio on "Face the Nation," July 22, 2018
"But again my hope is that we can reunite as many of these families as possible, because while I do believe we need to enforce our laws, we also need to do so in a way that's true to our values as a nation of compassion," he added.
The administration previously missed a deadline to reunite children under 5 years old with their parents, citing difficulties in tracking down parents who have already been deported or released into the U.S.
Asked about the missed deadline, Mr. Trump previously told reporters, "Well, I have a solution. Tell people not to come to our country illegally. That's the solution." A federal judge has ordered a temporary halt to all deportations of immigrant families reunited at the border.