New GOP Mom In Congress Wants Family Separation For Migrants, But Not For New Moms In Congress

On Tuesday, freshman Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) introduced a bill allowing House members to cast votes on behalf of new mothers unable to attend Congress in person, giving the mothers time to recover and be with their newborns without the hassle of traveling to Washington for work.

On Wednesday, in a tense exchange with a witness at a committee hearing , Luna said she wanted migrants claiming asylum at the U.S. border to be at least temporarily separated from any children who accompany them.

“The reason why we want family separation, until we can confirm if they are the actual biological parents, is because these kids are being trafficked,” she said at a House oversight hearing on immigration.

The witness, David Bier, associate director of immigration studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, had said the Donald Trump administration had engaged in unnecessary “psychological torture of children” with its family separation policy. He challenged Luna’s assertion of widespread child trafficking by people posing as young migrants’ parents, which led to the exchange.

Luna doubled down later in the day on her comment, saying in a video posted on social media she did not make apologies for endorsing the family separation policy even though it “triggered a lot of people.”

“I’m sorry that we’re breaking through your programming, but the fact is family separation and biological confirmation saves lives,” she said.

Just a day before the hearing, Luna introduced H. Res. 967 , which would change the rules of the House to allow members who had given birth up to six weeks afterwards to vote by proxy.

At a press conference Thursday, Luna didn’t answer directly when asked if she saw any contradiction in her stances.

“I think