President DonaldTrump said Tuesday he is not going to reintroduce the policy of family separations at the border — and blamed his predecessor for starting the practice.
"We are not looking to do that, no," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, the Washington Examiner reported.
But he noted it was an effective deterrent, declaring, "When you don't do it, it brings a lot more people to the border," the Examiner reported.
The president reportedly has been pushing his administration to crack down on migrant families despite issuing an executive order in June ending the policy. According to NBC News, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's resignation was partly fueled by her resistance to implementing a large-scale family separation policy.
In his Oval Office remarks, Trump asserted President Barack Obama started the family separation policy in the first place.
"Obama separated the children, by the way," Trump said, the Examiner reported. "Just so you understand. President Obama separated the children. Those cages that were shown — I think they were very inappropriate. They were built by President Obama's administration, not by Trump."
He added he was the one who "changed the law," the Examiner reported.
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