Trump Claims Ivanka Asked Him To Fix Immigration Crisis

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By Alyssa Fisher June 20, 2018

President Trump urged House Republicans to fix the nation’s immigration system, saying that his daughter Ivanka asked him if there was a way to stop the current family separation crisis at the border, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Trump described for Republicans in a meeting at the Capitol how the First Daughter and senior White House adviser told him that the images from the border were terrible, according to multiple GOP lawmakers who attended the session.

“Can we do anything to stop this?” Trump quoted her as saying, according to one lawmaker.

The president’s reaction to his daughter’s remarks, the lawmaker said, was to call it a “tough issue” and push Congress to act. “We need to figure this out,” Trump said. “It’s a sad situation.”

Leading up to disclosing his discussion with his daughter, the president repeatedly defended his immigration crackdown, including forcibly separating migrant children from their parents as they arrive at the border. However, despite his visit to the Capitol, there was no guarantee that the Republican-led Congress would pass any legislation on immigration.

“He didn’t really tell us what bill to vote for,” Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) told the Post. Mullin said Trump laid out his main principles on immigration and told Republicans he “wanted to take care of the kids.”

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

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