Border Patrol Says Yes, We're Definitely Keeping Kids in 'Cages,' but Please Stop Saying That

Amid Homeland Security Secretary Kristjen Nielsen straight-up lying about the Trump administration’s very real and current policy of separating families at the border comes yet another misdirection effort: Whether or not it’s fair to say the government is keeping detained children in cages.

This morning, CBS News reported Border Patrol took issue with the media use of the word “cages,” not because it’s inaccurate, but because it’s a deeply “uncomfortable” word for people to keep using to describe the situation.

“They are very uncomfortable, in their words, with this characterization of the word ‘cages,’” co-host Gayle King said on the air. “They said it’s not inaccurate, but they’re very uncomfortable with using the word ‘cages.’”

She continued: “They said they may be cages, but they’re not being treated like animals.”

Truly incredible. Putting human beings in cages is kind of the definition of treating them like animals, but it seems Border Patrol seems to think they’re the REAL victim here.

This inane battle over semantics is another pathetic attempt to derail the conversation about why this policy is allowed to persist, and does nothing to change the fact that this treatment of these immigrants by the United States of America is barbaric.

Splinter reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for comment and will update this post if and when we hear back.