Casten Slams 'Shameful' Use Of Tear Gas At Border Crossing

GLEN ELLYN, IL --- Congressman-elect Sean Casten recently issued a statement condemning the use of tear gas by the U.S. Border Patrol. Casten, who was elected to replace Rep. Peter Roskam (R) in Illinois's 6th District, decried the act as "shameful."

Casten released a statement:

"This Administration continues to use desperate families attempting to cross our borders in hopes of asylum as cover for its own crossing of Constitutional, legal and moral bounds. The recent scenes at our southern border — including children in diapers being tear-gassed — constitute a shameful image, contrary to the vision of our forefathers and their own immigrant histories. Seeking asylum is not a crime. As a newly elected Member of Congress, I will do all that I can to stop this Administration's ongoing assault on the American character."

Casten joins a number of public figures who criticized the Trump administration's use of tear gas to deter a group of Mexican migrants, some of them parents with infants, who rushed the border crossing and attempted to scale a fence separating the U.S. and Mexico Sunday.

Image credit: Lisa Farver/Patch