Congressman Jim Hagedorn says kids in Trump camps 'can leave' anytime they want

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http://www.citypages.com/news/congressman-jim-hagedorn-says-kids-in-trump-camps-can-leave-anytime-they-want/512169032

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Congressman Jim Hagedorn of Blue Earth came face-to-face with some of his constituents in Olmsted County over the weekend at a town hall event. Things started off orderly with reminders from the emcee to keep things civil with a polite discussion about the issues.

But it didn’t take long to hit a subject for which civility is a less than tenable response. A constituent wrote in a question saying she was “very concerned” about family separation on the United States-Mexico border.

“This is causing emotional damage to these kids,” the emcee read. “How do you justify this government-sponsored child abuse?”

Hagedorn started by taking some of the lead out of the question. It’s not “government-sponsored child abuse,” he said. These detention centers were not “concentration camps.” The crowd immediately responded with some scattered boos.

“Hang on,” he said. “This is the United States of America. This is the greatest country in the world. There is a difference between a concentration camp as we know it… and what’s going on. The people that are there, they can leave. Nobody is holding them against their will.”

That remark turned a few heads. As one constituent asked, “How is a three-month-old baby, or a four-year-old, gonna leave a facility like that?”