West Virginia Dem who backed Trump sickened by family separations

West Virginia state Sen. Richard Ojeda (D) is sickened by President Trump’s policy of separating families at the border.

In response to a question from Hill.TV host Krystal Ball, Ojeda said he doesn’t see the point in separating parents from their children, saying “it’s hard to even imagine.”

“It just bothers me — whatever happened to ‘give me your tired, your hungry, your sick, your poor, your huddled masses,’ and now it’s like nobody wants to pay attention to that,” the former Army paratrooper said on Hill.TV’s “Rising.”

For Ojeda, Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy hits him on a personal level: Ojeda’s grandfather was an undocumented immigrant.

He also argued that no matter their origin, many immigrations are just looking for a better life.

“I’ve been all over the world. When you see people and you realize that they just want to come here to provide a better life for their family in many cases — regardless of whether they come from Afghanistan or whether they come from Mexico — they’re fleeing from something. ” Ojeda said.

Ojeda believes many of the people in his conservative district share the same sentiment.

“I think a lot of people are looking at this and absolutely feeling bad about this regardless of their support. If you think about putting yourself in those shoes – to completely have your children separate from you,” Ojeda said. “And the children – the long affects of this is going to weigh on them for the rest of their lives.”

Ojeda voted for President Trump in 2016 but is now running for Congress as a Democrat. Ojeda is looking to flip a long-held Republican district that President won in 2016 with 75% of the vote.

Ball, a “Rising” co-host, leads the People’s House Project, a political committee that supports Ojeda and has donated about $5,000 to his campaign in in-kind contributions and donations, according to Federal Election Commission reports. 

— Tess Bonn