Attorney General Maura Healey supports Governor Charlie Baker’s move not to deploy Massachusetts National Guard troops to the southern border with Mexico.
“It is shameful, [and] I’m glad — Massachusetts resources should never ever ever be used to separate children from their families,” Healey said during an interview with Boston Public Radio Monday. “To look at what’s happening there, to look at these images, it is heartbreaking, and just… I think it’s a terrible state of affairs when we’re literally ripping children from their mothers breast.”
As WGBH first reported Monday, Baker had a change of heart on an earlier plan to dispatch National Guard troops and a helicopter to the southern border, in accordance with President Donald Trump’s plan to separate immigrant children from their families at the border.
“Governor Baker directed the National Guard not to send any assets or personnel to the Southwest border today because the federal government’s current actions are resulting in the inhumane treatment of children,” said Baker communications director Lizzy Guyton in a statement sent to WGBH News.
More children are being separated from their parents at the border as a result of the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance policy” — an ongoing crackdown on immigrants attempting to illegally enter the United States. According to the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement, there are more than 11,000 children in the office’s custody.
Healey, a long-time critic of Trump’s immigration policies, called on House Speaker Paul Ryan and all of congress to stop the practice of separation.
“Congress needs to act, I mean, Paul Ryan, they all know it, just do your job, okay?” Healey said. “For the sake of this country, for the sake of our moral standing and our basic humanity.”
In an earlier interview, Rep. Joe Kennedy told Boston Public Radio he hadn’t heard about Baker’s plan to deploy troops to the border, and opposes the Trump Administration’s practice.
“I don’t agree with this policy, I think it’s abhorrent, I think it’s immoral, I think it’s a rejection of our values,” he said. “The other side of this is we do have immigration laws, they have to be enforced.”
Healey said she’s reviewing whether or not there is a basis for a legal challenge from her office.
To hear AG Healey’s full interview with Boston Public Radio, click on the audio player above.
