Arpaio: Blame the adults coming across the border for family separations

Former Maricopa County Sheriff and Arizona Senate candidate Joe Arpaio (R) said that immigrant parents who illegally bring their children to the United States should be blamed for violating the law if they get separated from their kids at the border.

“Why don’t we blame the families, the adults, for taking the chance, violating the law, coming across our border with these young kids? They’re the ones who should be held responsible,” Arpaio said during a segment of “Cuomo Prime Time” with CNN’s Chris Cuomo.

“When I get to Washington, I’m going to make sure there’s another law — a tougher law — to go after these people,” Arpaio continued.

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The former sheriff’s controversial remarks arrive after Cuomo asked him if separating children from their parents at the border was “the right thing to do.”

Arpaio announced that he will run for Senate back in January after he was pardoned by Trump in 2016, following his conviction for ignoring a court order related to racial profiling in his division.

Arpaio became popular among immigration hard-liners as Maricopa County sheriff, representing the Phoenix area, and referred to himself as “America’s toughest sheriff,” while touting a strict approach to border security.

His comments about separating families at the border are related to the Trump administration’s new “zero tolerance” policy for prosecuting migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. The policy involves separating migrants from children they brought across the border with them.