14:44
Nicholson's main opponent for the GOP nomination in Wisconsin, state Sen. Leah Vukmir, told a local television station Monday that \"there is a process that has to be upheld,\" when it comes to enforcing U.S. immigration law, but then issued a statement Tuesday saying, \"Of course families shouldn't be separated,\" calling on Congress to act swiftly to resolve the issue.
Morrisey released a statement Wednesday morning attacking his opponent, Democrat Joe Manchin, for supporting the \"Keep Families Together Act\" authored by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein that earlier this week garnered the support of the entire Democratic caucus in the U.S. Senate.
\"Joe Manchin is putting the interest of illegal immigrant criminals and the agenda of liberal Washington elites ahead of West Virginia families,\" Morrisey, the Attorney General of West Virginia, wrote in a statement, \"Washington Democrats and Joe Manchin are offering drug cartels, gangs, and child traffickers a one-way ticket into our country with their open-borders legislation.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/joe-manchin-ap-jt-180504_hpEmbed_10x13_384.jpg\")
GOP Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, a stalwart ally of President Trump that is running for the state's open U.S. Senate seat, says her \"heart breaks for the families\" but is attempting to shift the blame onto \"liberals wouldn't pay to enforce immigration laws or build suitable facilities for asylum seekers.\"
\"The Obama policies turned every state into a border state, every town into a border town,\" Blackburn added in an interview with Fox News Wednesday morning.
In condemning the family separations, Blackburn's likely Democratic opponent, former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, noted the bipartisan opposition to the Trump administration's \"zero tolerance\" policy and said it indicated the nation is on a \"morally bankrupt path.\"
\"This is no longer the President’s problem, or the Department of Homeland Security’s problem. It is America’s problem. Thankfully, we live in a strong nation, full of parents, faith leaders, and many others from all parts of the political spectrum who have condemned this policy,\" Bredesen wrote in a statement released Tuesday.
On Wednesday at a children's hospital in Knoxville, Bredesen said the issue \"completely transcends partisan politics,\" and also cast blame on Congress for it's inability to pass a legislative solution.
\"Watching what’s going on in Washington is partisanship at its worst. Everybody is spending their time covering their own rear ends by passing blame. There's still tremendous damage to unwind on the ground to reunite children with their parents to start the healing process,\" Bredesen said.
The real test of our strength as a nation is not whether we’ve made a mistake, it’s whether we recognize where we’ve failed and fix it. Now. https://t.co/Gg2DF4L4Hw
— Phil Bredesen (@PhilBredesen) June 20, 2018
In Pennsylvania, another state Trump won in the 2016 election where a Democratic incumbent is battling an Trump-aligned challenger, Democratic Sen. Bob Casey attempted to turn the tables on criticism from his GOP opponent, Rep. Lou Barletta, over his support for the Feinstein bill.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/bob-casey-gty-mem-180620_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
\"This is a fundamental moral question far beyond partisan politics. We must reject this inhumane, cruel practice of separating children from their parents,\" Casey wrote in a statement released by his re-election campaign Wednesday, \"Rather than attacking me or blaming Democrats, Congressman Barletta should join his Republican colleagues in demanding the Trump administration immediately end this policy.\"
In North Dakota, GOP Rep. Kevin Cramer's campaign went after his opponent, Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, over her support for the Feinstein-authored legislation.
\"Imagine a MS-13 gang member getting arrested in North Dakota on a federal drug or weapons charge getting off scot-free because he has children traveling with him,” Rasmussen said. “Worse yet, this bad legislation could actually encourage criminals to use children as shields to prevent arrest,\" Cramer's Communications Director Tim Rasmussen wrote in a statement released Wednesday, \"Heitkamp’s support of this bad legislation demonstrates she is more interested in gaining political points than creating strong and effective legislation.\"
In the border state of Arizona, a field of three Republicans vying for the open seat left by prominent Trump-critic Sen. Jeff Flake has offered varying takes on the border crisis, but all have either stayed silent steered clear of directly criticizing the President and again are directing the blame squarely at Democrats.
Former State Sen. Kelli Ward, one GOP contender, slammed both her likely Democratic opponent, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, and Republican Rep. Martha McSally.
\"Congress has repeatedly failed to address border security, one of the top issues for voters in Arizona, while my opponents Reps. Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema have allowed this humanitarian crisis to persist for years – under several administrations – without making any effort to fix it.\"
In a statement provided to ABC News Monday, Sinema called for an end to the separation of families at the border and said Congress should \"stop playing politics\" and find a solution to the crisis.
\"This is wrong. The administration is choosing to separate families at the border; they should stop immediately,\" Sinema wrote, \"As always, I stand ready to work with anyone to fix our broken immigration system, secure our border, and protect our communities. I call on my colleagues and the administration to stop playing politics and work together.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/martha-mcsally-01-as-ht-180202_hpEmbed_2_1x1_384.jpg\")
McSally, who has been straddling the difficult political line between vociferous Trump-support and broadening her appeal beyond the GOP base, released a statement Monday saying that the U.S. should \"enforce our laws in a consistent and humane manner and DHS should not have to choose between enforcing the law and keeping children with their parents.\"
She also trumpeted a bill she has authored that allows children to stay with their parents \"as they undergo due process,\" and that she hopes \"we can get a version of my bill out of the House this week and on the President's desk immediately to address many urgent issues like this.\"
On Wednesday evening, she released a statement saying that the executive order signed by the President was \"welcome news\" and reiterated her belief that \"Soon, the House of Representatives will take up immigration legislation that I’ve been working on for months.\"
\"Congress must step up to get a solution to the President's desk,\" she said in the statement.
Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was pardoned by President Trump last year after he was held in contempt of court for defying a court order to stop discriminatory immigration enforcement practices, voiced support for punishing the parents who chose to bring their children across the border.
\"While Sheriff Arpaio understands and is sensitive to the issue of the children coming across and being separated from families, Arpaio asks the question; 'Why aren't we holding the parents of these kids responsible? They know there is an inherent risk when they make this journey to cross the border illegally.'\" Arpaio's Communications Director Chris Hegstrom wrote in a response to an ABC News inquiry.
While the President continues to urge Congress to find a more permanent, legislative solution to the crisis, the issue remains top of mind for Republican candidates hoping to expand the party's slim 51 to 49 majority in the U.S. Senate.
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