Undocumented migrants don't integrate well: Trump aide

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - President Donald Trump's chief of staff said in an interview airing Friday that undocumented immigrants lack the skills necessary to integrate into American society as he sought to defend the Trump administration's new "zero tolerance" policy for illegal immigration.

John Kelly conceded that the vast majority of those seeking to enter the U.S. without documentation are not "bad people" like the vicious MS-13 street gang, but went on to add: "They're also not people that would easily assimilate into the United States into our modern society."

"They're overwhelmingly rural people. In the countries they come from, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-grade educations are kind of the norm," Kelly said in an interview with National Public Radio.

"They don't speak English; obviously that's a big thing. ... They don't integrate well; they don't have skills. They're not bad people. They're coming here for a reason. And I sympathize with the reason. But the laws are the laws," he added.

His comments follow Attorney General Jeff Sessions' announcement on Monday that the U.S. would begin to separate undocumented children from their parents if they are apprehended by authorities as part of a broader "zero tolerance" policy for illegal U.S. entry.

U.S. immigration and border control agencies have reported a spike in illegal border crossings over the past year, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said last month that over 50,000 individuals attempted to cross the border illegally for the second month in a row.

DHS officials said the number of illegal border crossings in April was three times higher than it was in April 2017.

Sessions said he has "no doubt" that many of those crossing the border illegally are fleeing dire conditions at home but noted that "we cannot take everyone on earth who is in a difficult situation".