Rep. Ilhan Omar claimed Trump is treating illegal immigrants like “criminals,” following news that the United States has started DNA testing migrants apprehended at the southern border.
“The Trump administration’s immigration ‘policy’: treating immigrants like criminals. @BernieSanders and my’s approach: pathways to citizenship,” the Minnesota Democrat tweeted Wednesday.
The Trump administration’s immigration “policy”: treating immigrants like criminals.@BernieSanders and my’s approach: pathways to citizenship. https://t.co/23mf2BWVzH
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 8, 2020
Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib joined Omar in her outrage, suggesting all members of Congress should also endure the “dehumanizing” task of DNA testing.
“I think every member of Congress should go through this dehumanizing act of submitting their DNA. The way we are treating immigrants, especially children, is disgusting and hurts all of us,” Tlaib tweeted.
I think every member of Congress should go through this dehumanizing act of submitting their DNA. The way we are treating immigrants, especially children, is disgusting and hurts all of us. https://t.co/pJVukZzROR
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) January 7, 2020
The Washington Examiner learned in May that “approximately 30% of rapid DNA tests of immigrant adults who were suspected of arriving at the southern border with children who weren’t theirs revealed the adults were not related to the children.”
Illegal border crossings have dropped for six straight months since the humanitarian crisis in May. Mark Morgan, acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner, announced in December that 42,649 people were apprehended or claimed asylum in November, which was down from 144,116 in May.
