MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript: Immigration

Interview

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MATTHEWS: For more, I'm joined by U.S. Congressman Adriano Espaillat, Democrat from New York City.
Thank you, Congressman.

REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT (D), NEW YORK: Thank you so much.

MATTHEWS: Tell me. You have been out there. You know what we don't know. What's it like on the ground with these kids?

ESPAILLAT: Well, I went to visit one of the centers where -- that's providing services for them, and they told me that there's 239 of them there, 100 of which have been placed with some relative.

Now, these kids are coming with little notes attached with a safety pin. That's how they are getting them together with their relatives. The federal government is doing very little to reconnect the children back with their families.
And I met with some of the fathers at the federal facility on Father's Day. And they told me how their children were being ripped away from them. In fact, many of them just broke down because they told us how, at the border, when they were questioned, the first thing that came to question was whether or not they were the real dads.

They were alleging that they were tracking young children. And so many of them, when they told the story, they broke down. This is what is going on, on the ground. These children are not being helped by government.

It is in fact the service providers that are doing much of the groundwork. They came from Arizona, from California. There's 700-plus of them in New York state, 239 of them in my district. And I went to visit them.

They're resilient kids, but I cannot guarantee that they haven't been traumatized.

MATTHEWS: And you're up on the border between Manhattan and the Bronx.

ESPAILLAT: That's correct. Yes.

MATTHEWS: Let me ask you about this talk about trafficking.

What is that? Is that just a bogus claim? Who is saying there's been tracking with these kids?

ESPAILLAT: Well, if one of the males, if a father is coming with their child -- and very often a father is the one also that brings the children, because that's a very dangerous journey.

MATTHEWS: Sure.

ESPAILLAT: So, immediately, the allegation would be, is that your child? And they told us, the children were holding onto their legs.

MATTHEWS: Well, they know it. So, why are they challenging that? Why do they think that is…

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ESPAILLAT: I think that's just the modus operandi down there at the border.

MATTHEWS: Well, hundreds of demonstrators stormed a Senate office building here in Washington earlier today to protest the Trump administration's forced family separations.

More than 500 people were arrested today. There some of them are as they chanted "Abolish ICE." Many were wearing the same Mylar blankets that were distributed to migrant children at the border. Those are the things that look like aluminum paper.

Anyway, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal is one of the people arrested.

Let's watch.

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MATTHEWS: Now, Congress has an oversight role here.

You have a judge who has enjoined them to get these kids home to their parents in 30 days. How do you guys -- how can you pressure that?

ESPAILLAT: Well, first of all, that, judge was very clear, 30 days, and two weeks if the child is under 5 years old.
So, clearly, there's a present danger, clear and present danger for these children. We should be holding hearings immediately on the situation with these children and how they have been ripped away from their families.

There's just no way about it. I will continue to visit some of these sites. I'm going back again this week and see how the kids are doing.

MATTHEWS: Your background is Dominican.

ESPAILLAT: That's correct.

MATTHEWS: Congratulations. What a guy you are. Thank you. It's so impressive, your whole life.

ESPAILLAT: And I'm not a shortstop.

MATTHEWS: No, your whole life is so impressive. Thank you, U.S. Congressman Adriano Espaillat of New York City and New York State.

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