Sec. John Kelly: DHS Considering Separating Immigrant Kids From Parents

Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said on CNN Monday night that he is considering separating immigrant children from their parents when they come into the country illegally.

"If you get some young kids, who manage to sneak into the United States with their parents, Department of Homeland Security personnel are going to separate them from their moms and dads?" Wolf Blitzer, host of "The Situation Room," asked.

"Yes, I am considering exactly that," Kelly said. He also noted, "We have tremendous experience dealing with unaccompanied minors. ... They will be well cared for as we deal with their parents."

The Department of Health and Human Services would be responsible for looking after the children.

Reuters reported on such a plan Saturday, citing three anonymous government officials.

Kelly emphasized on CNN that the goal of the plan was to weaken the Central American network of smugglers that help undocumented immigrants come into the United States.

"I would do almost anything to deter the people from Central America to getting on this very, very dangerous network that brings them up through Mexico to the United States," he told Blitzer. "The Mexicans are after this network in the same way we are."

He noted that sexual abuse of women is rampant in these networks, according to Central American social service organizations.

Any children separated from their parents by Homeland Security would likely go either to foster care or to family members living in the country legally.

"You understand how that looks to the average person ... ?" Blitzer asked.

"It's more important to me, Wolf, to try to keep people off of this awful network," Kelly said.

Photo credit: Department of Defense