CNN "Anderson Cooper 360" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Chris Coons

Interview

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[20:18:19] COOPER: There's news just breaking tonight. We're just getting it. It is really something.

"The Washington Post" reporting that federal asylum officers, the very people carrying out the president's policy, have just asked a federal court to end it. They see the policy of forcing migrants to remain in Mexico, while awaiting immigration court hearings, is putting their lives at risk. Again these are federal asylum officers, challenging their own policy, calling it, quote, fundamentally contrary to the moral fabric of our nation and our international and domestic obligations.

That's on top of breaking news made by our guest in the last segment. She tells us attorneys are in the process of asking for a temporary restraining order in Flores v. Meese, a class action lawsuit on behalf of children in federal immigration custody. Attorneys are seeking access for public health expert to inspect all CBP facilities for independent doctors to be able to see children there, the expeditious release of certain categories of kids, and for the government to be held in contempt.

Also breaking, House and Senate border bills are now on the tables. So, the question now is, what if anything will happen next?

That and, of course, how quickly the president likes to invoke the idea that the entire immigration problem could be solved in a 45- minute negotiation. He sometimes says 15 minutes. Sometimes he says instantly as he's done on Twitter today.

Te reality is, this is embroiled right now in a political process during an election year. There's another, though. There's human beings dying and many more suffering, and many of them children. Whether it's risking their lives on the Rio Grande, trying to sleep with the lights on 24 hours a day in detention facilities, or back in Central American countries living in fear of gangs and getting killed, which is driving people to risk rivers and camps because it's better they believe than the alternative.

[20:20:00] That's the competing reality and it's growing larger in the public eye and probably in the political arena as well.

I want to talk about what Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, and a member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.

Senator Coons, first off, I just want to get your reaction to this news that we're just getting from "The Washington Post" about, you know, personnel who are actually asylum officers saying the policy has to change.

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Well, I think those asylum officers are advocating for what are the real core values of our country. We have signed laws and international treaties in this country that say when people are fleeing violence and persecution, they have to have a chance to present themselves in our country and seek asylum here, rather than being held off from entering our country and forced to stay in another country.

I think the riveting -- the heartbreaking story of Oscar Martinez Ramirez and his daughter, Valeria, who drowned in the Rio Grande, attempting to reach our country, has moved a lot of people to action in recent days. And it's my hope that everyone who takes a moment to think about the desperation that must have been in their hearts, to risk their lives and lose their lives, trying to come to this country, I hope folks to reflect on that desperation will also recognize that these officers are making a claim that is rooted in the best traditions of our country.

COOPER: It is extraordinary to hear asylum officers speaking out against the policy that they're being asked to execute, which should be pointed out, is a different policy. Then this administration has made it tougher in many ways to apply for asylum. Even the criteria of what you -- you know, why you left, that too has been made tougher.

COONS: That's right.

We have seen two things change. You know, first is that this administration has frozen or cut back on funding that the previous administration had invested in stabilizing the three Northern Triangle countries, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, and that has contributed to a sense of hopelessness and increased violence and disorganization in those countries that has driven more parents to come here. They have also made the standards for applying for asylum in this country, the method and where and how, more difficult in a number of ways.

And then last -- as your previous guest pointed out, painfully -- we now have a government lawyers arguing that safe and sanity conditions for children in our government's custody don't include things like beds, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, we are in an Alice in Wonderland world where some of the best traditions, welcoming those fleeing violence, are being turned on their head.

COOPER: Yes. I mean, even if all you just care about is economic argument, giving kids soap and the ability to clean themselves prevents the spread of disease, prevents kids from ending up in the hospital, which is going to be paid by taxpayers. If that's -- I mean, if that is the only concern you have, even on that basis, it makes no sense to not have soap and toothbrushes for children.

Just in terms of what's going on in Congress right now, Speaker Pelosi reportedly told her caucus today that while the Senate bill is good, that the House is much better. Is she right?

COONS: She is. We took up both bills today in the Senate. First, we considered the House bill, which they had passed, and sent to us. I voted for it. Most of my colleagues voted for it. But many Republicans voted against it, and it did not pass.

We then took up the Senate version that came out of our committee, the Appropriations Committee. And I voted for that as well, and it passed.

There's a few key differences, Anderson. The most important one is that the House version has tougher standards for the care and protection of children in the custody of CBP and HHS.

COOPER: Senator Coons, I appreciate your time. And, obviously, this is something we're going to keep following for -- well, a long time. Appreciate your time. Thank you.

COONS: Thank you, Anderson.

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