Sessions responds to Nazi comparisons: 'They were keeping the Jews from leaving'

BY BRETT SAMUELS - 06/18/18 11:18 PM EDT 3,085

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Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday defended the Trump administration’s practice of separating parents and children who cross the border illegally from comparisons to the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, saying the Nazis "were keeping the Jews from leaving."

Sessions appeared on Fox News’s “The Ingraham Angle” amid a growing uproar over the administration’s “zero tolerance” policy to combat illegal immigration. As part of the policy, thousands of migrant children have been separated from their parents.

Ingraham noted that some opponents have compared the practice to "concentration camps," while others have condemned it as a human rights violation.

“Well it’s a real exaggeration. Of course in Nazi Germany, they were keeping the Jews from leaving the country,” Sessions said.

“This is a serious matter,” he continued. “We need to think it through, be rational and thoughtful about it. We want to allow asylum for people who qualify for it but people who want economic migration for their personal financial benefit and what they think is their family’s benefit is not a basis for a claim of asylum.”

Asked for clarification on Sessions's comments, a Department of Justice spokeswoman told The Hill that "the Nazi comparisons that others are making" were just a "desperate attempt to distract from the fact that their policies led to the number of families illegally crossing the border jumping five-fold over the last four years.”

Sessions announced the so-called "zero tolerance" policy earlier this year, saying the Department of Justice would criminally prosecute all adults attempting to illegally cross the southern border into the U.S. As a result, families who crossed together would in some cases be separated, he said.

On Monday, he reiterated his argument that prosecuting anyone who crosses the border illegally can serve as a deterrent against illegal immigration.

"Hopefully people will get the message ... and not [come] across the border unlawfully," Sessions said.

Earlier Monday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen rebuked a reporter who asked if separating families was intended to "send a message."

"I find that offensive. Why would I ever create a policy that purposely does that?" she responded.

Nielsen argued her department was merely enforcing the laws on the books, adding that "Congress alone" could put a stop to the policy.

President Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly blamed Democrats for the separation policy, despite his administration issuing the directive that led to the practice. On Monday, he doubled down on the policy, saying the U.S. “will not be a migrant camp and it will not be a refugee holding facility.”