First ladies criticise family separations

WASHINGTON: First lady Melania Trump and one of her predecessors, Laura Bush, on Sunday joined the chorus of criticism of the Trump administration policy of separating parents and children illegally entering the country.

The “zero-tolerance” policy aimed at deterring illegal immigrants has reportedly resulted in almost 2,000 children being separated from their parents during a six-week period ending last month.

“Mrs Trump hates to see children separated from their families and hopes both sides of the aisle can finally come together to achieve successful immigration reform,” her communications director, Stephanie Grisham, told CNN.

“She believes we need to be a country that follows all laws, but also a country that governs with heart.”

In a column for the Washington Post, Bush, wife of former Republican president George W Bush, said the policy was “cruel” and “immoral”.

“Our government should not be in the business of warehousing children in converted box stores or making plans to place them in tent cities in the desert outside of El Paso,” she wrote.

“These images are eerily reminiscent of the Japanese American internment camps of World War II, now considered to have been one of the most shameful episodes in US history.”

US media was quick to note Melania’s statement echoed the words of her husband President Donald Trump, who has wrongly blamed Democrats for the policy.

“The Democrats should get together with their Republican counterparts and work something out on Border Security & Safety,” the president tweeted in the hours after his wife’s statement.

However, the policy of arresting and prosecuting all illegal immigrants, even those planning to apply for asylum, was announced in April by US attorney-general Jeff Sessions and does not need cooperation from Democrats in Congress to be reversed.

Children cannot be sent to the same detention facilities as their parents because they have not been charged with a crime and so have been sent to separate shelters, which reportedly include a repurposed Walmart building. – dpa