Following US Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to drop protection for domestic violence and gang violence victims, the Trump administration is now implementing a new immigration policy at the border that will potentially turn away asylum seekers before they can plead their case in court. 

The policy caused growing outrage in American society over the separation of children from their parents, who are accused of illegally entering the country. Raul Grijalva, a Democrat from Arizona, represents a diverse and geographically large district that span the US-Mexico border. He said under President Trump’s immigration policy, the country is throwing its traditional values out the window.

“There is a shelter in Tucson, Arizona,” Grijalva said. “The kids there were from four-years-old till about 11 or so. Somebody asked me what was it like and I said it wasn’t pure hell, but it wasn’t Shangri-La either.”

As midterm elections rapidly approach, Grijalva said the immigration problem is now morphing into a total political issue that plays to President Trump’s base. However, Julio Rivera, a conservative commentator and writer, argued that the “child-separation policy” is not unique to the Trump administration, and it is the Democrats that have been politicizing the issue since the very beginning. 

“The bottom line is these optics are being used by the left to try to continue to perpetuate this false narrative that Trump and the Republicans are xenophobic and somehow racist,” Rivera said. “But at the end of day all they want to do is to enforce the rule of law.” 

David Leopold, an immigration attorney, disagreed with Rivera, saying the previous policies were initially designed, and later extended, to protect children who came unaccompanied, but the separation is no doubt a Trump policy. 

“It is illegal to cross between border checkpoints, but the law is clear: Section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, if you want to become wonky about it, [it] says that you can apply for asylum in the United States regardless of how you get here,” Leopold said. “So it is not illegal to come to the United States and apply for asylum. It is enshrined in our law.” 

Despite the political disputes, the immigration policy is also a human rights issue. Hundreds of children, some of whom are under five-years-old, were wrenched from their families, awaiting an uncertain future. Grijalva said being a safe harbor and sticking to the rule of law have always been the country’s reputation, but now it is tainted. Instead of striking hard policies, Grijalva believed there is a better way to deal with the issue. 

The Trump administration had a deadline earlier this month to reunite all immigrant children under the age of five with their parents. Looking forward, they have another upcoming deadline on July 26 to reunite children under the age of 18. However, Jacqueline Thomsen, a reporter for The Hill, said it does not necessarily mean this problem is going to be truly solved. 

“Now it’s the Department of Health and Human Services that is in charge of this reunification process,” Thomsen said. “They’ve said in court filings and out of court filings that they will not be reuniting all of the children with their parents because there are instances where maybe the parents aren’t able to take back the children.”

(The Heat with Anand Naidoo is a 30-minute political talk show on CGTN. It airs weekdays at 7:00 a.m. BJT and 7:00 p.m. Eastern in the United States.)