Jeh Johnson, former secretary of homeland security under President Obama, admitted that they expanded family detention centers under his watch in an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Thursday afternoon.
“So, in 2014 — to deal with the spike then with the families — we did a number of things; including, by the way, working with the government of Mexico and obtaining their cooperation on securing their southern border. But we also expanded family detention, which was, I freely admit, controversial,” Johnson stated.
“We got a lot of heat for it,” he added. “There were just 95 beds out of a total of 34,000 equipped to handle families. We expanded that capability. I will freely admit that I made a big deal out of it so people could see what we were doing.”
The issue of separating families when they are apprehended illegally trying to enter the country has been a hot topic over the last week.
The president has received a lot of criticism for the policy, even after signing an executive order to stop the separation of families. These policies were also in place under the Obama Administration. (RELATED: ‘CONCENTRATION CAMP’: PEOPLE REACT TO PHOTOS OF TRUMP’S DETENTION CENTERS — JUST KIDDING, THEY WERE OBAMA’S)