Oklahoma State School Superintendent Ryan Walters, left, is pushing back against left-wing media outlets and Democrats after facing criticism for announcing his intention to cooperate with President Donald Trump's illegal immigration crackdown. (AP/Getty)
However, Walters, in an interview with Fox News Digital, said that such moves could be necessary to avoid family separation.
"Are the Democrats and now the left-wing media the party of family separation? If you have adults that are going to be deported from this country, do you not want the Trump administration to know where their kids are, where they're enrolled in school, so that if the family is to be deported, they're actually deported together?" he asked.
It led to a furious back-and-forth with CNN host Brianna Keilar, who asked him if it would be traumatic for kids.
"Do you think it would be traumatic for students to witness a raid in their school and students forcibly removed from their school? Do you think that would be traumatic?"
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ICE and DEA migrant raids New York City. (Drug Enforcement Administration New York)
Speaking to Fox Digital, Walters stood by his stance, noting Trump’s victory at the voting booth in November.
"We're talking about families, we're talking about adults, the adults are in the country illegally. And we're trying to make sure the Trump administration has the information to move forward with the most aggressive deportation policy in our nation's history that the American people clearly support," he said.
"The president won an overwhelming victory with his election. He won every swing state. He won every county in Oklahoma. So you look at this and you say: ‘CNN, left wing media, Democrats, you don't want to have the real conversation because it requires you to admit you created this problem.’ Now the adults are in charge trying to fix it by shutting down the border, deporting illegal immigrants," he said.
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Oklahoma State School Superintendent Ryan Walters. (Courtesy of Ryan Walters)
"And we know that over 99% of that fentanyl has come across the border. So the left, they can cry their crocodile tears. It's complete phony outrage that they act like that," he said. "They have compassion for illegal immigrants. They have no compassion for the American citizens, for the American people, for the American worker. And Americans are tired of it."
Walters also said that other states should be following Oklahoma’s example and backing the deportation and border security effort by the Trump administration.
"This country is a law and order country. We cannot continue to allow criminal activity, we cannot continue to allow sanctuary schools," he said. "Listen, you don't get to…harbor any other criminals in a school system. We should not be allowing illegal immigrants to enroll in our schools, work in our schools, and not get that information for the president, for the entire country," he said.
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"Americans want to see an America First policy. They've got that in President Trump," he added. "They will see that here in Oklahoma with our schools. We will put our students first. We will put American citizens first. And we will continue to work with President Trump and his team as they are doing a tremendous job in not only getting our schools back on track but getting our country back on track by bringing law and order back."
Fox News' Lindsay Kornick and Emma Woodhead contributed to this report.
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/oklahoma-superintendent-who-brawled-cnn-ice-entering-schools-doubles-down-deported-together