First lady critical of separations
Melania Trump appeared to criticise her husband President Donald Trump’s administration for separating illegal immigrant families at the Mexico border, calling on the United States to show ‘‘heart’’.
More than 2000 children have been removed from their parents over the past six weeks since Jeff Sessions, the US attorney general, introduced a ‘‘zero-tolerance’’ approach.
Under the policy adults are being detained and prosecuted with their children sent to separate shelters.
Previously, many illegal immigrants were allowed to remain at liberty while they awaited proceedings.
A spokeswoman for the first lady said: ‘‘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.
‘‘She believes we need to be a country that follows all laws but also a country that governs with heart.’’
It was a rare intervention from Melania Trump, who immigrated to the United States legally from her native Slovenia, and campaigns on behalf of children. But who she blamed for the situation was unclear. It was also possible she was backing her husband’s claim that Democrats were responsible.
The comment came amid a growing uproar over the detention of minors, including hundreds being held at a former Walmart superstore in Texas.
President Trump has blamed the situation on Democrats, accusing them of pursuing a ‘‘horrible and cruel legislative agenda’’, and saying that he ‘‘hates to see separation of parents and children’’.
Former first lady Laura Bush was writing a guest column for The Washington Post and compared the policy to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
‘‘I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel,’’ she wrote. She said ‘‘the US 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.’’
Kellyanne Conway, counsellor to the president, further distanced the White House from responsibility.
‘‘As a mother, as a Catholic, as somebody who’s got a conscience, I will tell you that nobody likes this policy,’’ Conway said.
‘‘Congress passed the law that it is a crime to enter this country illegally. So if they don’t like that law, they should change it.’’
Republicans and Democrats in Congress also criticised the policy. Democratic lawmakers and others have pointed out that no law mandates the separation of children and parents at the border. Senator Susan Collins, of Maine, accused the White House of trying to send a message ‘‘that if you cross the border with children, your children are going to be ripped away from you’’.
Democrats accused President Trump of using the separation of families as a negotiating tool to secure funding for his proposed border wall in future immigration legislation. Adam Schiff, a Democrat congressman, said the administration was ‘‘using the grief, the tears, the pain of these kids as mortar to build the wall. It’s an effort to extort a bill to their liking in the Congress.’’
President Trump is due to hold meetings with Republicans in Congress and there is expected to be a vote on an immigration bill next week.