Lawmakers slam Trump’s order on family separation

Indian-American lawmakers and rights activists have slammed US President Donald Trump for his new executive order that calls for indefinite detention of families who illegally enter the country even though it stopped the practice of separation of children from their parents.

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said Trump's new executive order allows for indefinite detention of families which is absolutely unacceptable. She said immigrant internment camps are "cruel and inhumane".

"Moreover, lengthy or unnecessary detention of children has been ruled unlawful. The zero-tolerance policy itself must end. If the Trump administration wants to now detain families during a criminal court case, that is unprecedented and will likely be challenged in court. Family separation is wrong. So is throwing families in jail,” Jayapal said.

Trump has ordered an end to the separation of migrant children from their parents on the US border reversing a tough policy under heavy pressure from his fellow Republicans, Democrats and the international community. The executive order came after more than 2,300 children were separated from their parents and relatives after illegally crossing the Southern US border since May 5 and placed in tent camps and other facilities. Trump's executive order comes as a response to the movement against the clear moral and human rights violation of separating children from their parents, she said. "However, it is far from sufficient. The president could have ended family separation with a simple phone call, but his new order expands family detention and continues the criminal prosecution of asylum-seekers,” Jayapal said.