Rep. Jeffries on Alligator Alcatraz: The Last Thing I Would Expect from This Toxic Admin Is Sensitivity to Any Painful Parts of Our History

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
SHARPTON: “Let me go to another issue. Florida’s attorney general says that the first group of immigrants have arrived in the everglades detention center, known as alligator alcatraz. President Trump visited there earlier this week. The Trump Administration has embraced the idea of alligator guards as a joke. Those of us familiar with the history of the Jim Crow south know the idea of using black babies as alligator bait has a long, ugly history. the White House tries to claim its immigration policies aren’t about race. But don’t these stunts expose their motivations very clearly, or at least should raise their sensitivity?”

Jeffries: “Yeah, the last thing I would expect from this particular toxic administration at this point is sensitivity to any of the painful parts of our history. They’ve tried to erase our history, sanitize and whitewash our history. You know, the big problem with the Trump Administration, we see all of these stunts that continue to take place, very toxic stunts, extreme stunts in many, in many cases. But what have they done to actually address the issues of importance to the American people, like lowering the high cost of living? This guy, Donald Trump, promised to lower the high cost of living, lower grocery costs on day one. Costs aren’t going down. They’re going up. And by the way, as a result of this one big ugly bill, you’re going to see utility bills start to skyrocket as a result of some of the things that have been done in this reckless Republican budget. And instead, they’re focused on stunts like this alligator alcatraz situation, by the way. Rev, what they should be doing, what they promised to do was to deport violent felons who are undocumented. Instead, in many cases, they’re going after law abiding immigrant families. We all want to secure the border. But what is taking place right now is not what I believe the American people signed up for last November.”