Rep. Kennedy meeting with immigrants in El Paso, Texas Sunday. (Twitter.com/@RepJoeKennedy)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Speaking to WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Josh Binswanger Friday morning, Rep. Joe Kennedy III expressed frustration over the deadlock in Washington as Congress fails to make any progress on immigration reform. Meanwhile, he said, the question of what to do with families coming across the border still stands.
"The underlying issues here are hard and complicated, that is true," Kennedy said. "I can tell you what is not the answer: locking kids up indefinitely is now the current policy of the administration."
President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order Wednesday to end the practice of separating parents from their children when detained at the border for immigration violations. The Associated Press reported last week that nearly 2,000 minors had been separated from their parents since Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a new "zero-tolerance" policy at the southern border. That policy has attracted backlash from the public and calls from politicians for reform.
Kennedy said Republicans in Congress are currently trying to come up with a measure that would require only Republican support--but that, so far, they're getting nowhere.
"They're looking for solutions only within the far right of their caucus to come up with a bill that can pass purely on party lines, without, literally, allowing a single democratic voice," Kennedy said.
Listen to the full interview with Rep. Joe Kennedy III: