Dupage Policy Journal

In a break with current GOP leadership, U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) is pushing for a change in immigration policy that has left parents separated from their children.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions was quoted June 14 in The Washington Post, defending his department’s policy of bringing criminal charges against anyone crossing the U.S. border illegally -- and separating parents from underage children. 

But this policy doesn’t pass muster with Roskam, who issued a release the same day as Sessions’ press conference condemning the policy.

Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL)

“The events unfolding at our nation’s borders are heartbreaking,” Roskam said in the release. “Being forcibly separated from a child is a parent's worst nightmare and I cannot fathom the pain these families are enduring. Every day these children spend apart from their parents, confused, scared, and alone, inflicts additional and unnecessary trauma.”

Many of the illegal immigrants are refugees seeking to escape dangerous conditions in their home countries, Roskam said. 

“While I believe we have a responsibility to secure our borders, I also believe that how we treat strangers reflects the moral values this country was founded on,” he continued. “Dragging children away from their parents ought not be a part of the solution.”

Instead, Roskam called on Sessions to “reverse the zero tolerance policy that removes children from their parents at the border."