'They Peeled Him Away': Watters Points to Elian Gonzalez Case After Dems Rip Trump for 'Separating Migrant Children'

Jun 15, 2018 // 5:54pm



Jesse Watters said that Democrats are being hypocritical in their criticisms of President Donald Trump supporting criminal law that may separate illegal-immigrant minors from their parents.

Watters said the Democrats used to support the forced separation of migrant children, pointing to the 1999 Elian Gonzalez case that garnered heavy media attention at the time.

In November 1999, Gonzalez -- who was about six at the time -- fled Cuba with his mother, Elizabeth Rodriguez, and several others on a doomed voyage to the U.S. on an aluminum craft.

The boat's engine later failed and the group encountered bad weather. Elian's mother ultimately drowned.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service under President Bill Clinton released Gonzalez to his great-uncle, Lazaro, upon reaching the United States, but Gonzalez' father, Juan, demanded that the boy be returned to him in Cuba.

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Despite calls by Lazaro and the Cuban-American community in Florida, Clinton Attorney General Janet Reno ordered Gonzalez be returned to Cuba -- an edict that led to dozens of federal agents storming the younger Gonzalez' house and taking forcible custody of the boy in 2000.

"They peeled this crying child away," Watters said. "They started it."

"The empathy play, where they pretend that they care? I'm not buying it," he said, pointing to criticism from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and several members of the mainstream media.

http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/06/1...e-watters-said