The former US First Lady Laura Bush has condemned a controversial policy that splits up families who illegally enter the country.
Writing in the Washington Post, she describes the separation of children from their parents as cruel, immoral and heart-breaking.
Her comments follow growing controversy over President Donald Trump’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy.
Earlier Melania Trump made a rare statement expressing concern.
Mrs Trump “hates to see children separated from their families”, her spokeswoman said.
She repeated her husband’s call for “both sides” to work on immigration reform as a solution. However, fact-checkers point out that the policy was introduced by Mr Trump’s attorney general and does not require congressional action to be stopped.
In a recent six-week period there were nearly 2,000 family separationsfollowing a crackdown on illegal border crossings.
Adults who try to cross the border outside of official entry points – many planning to seek asylum – are placed in custody and face criminal prosecution for illegal entry.
As a result, hundreds of children and babies are now being housed in detention centres, including warehouses and converted supermarkets, and kept away from their parents. Critics have condemned the action as unprecedented.
What’s been said?
Laura Bush, wife of the former Republican President George W Bush, launched an outspoken attack on the policy.
“This zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart,” she wrote in the Washington Post.
“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.”
“These images are eerily reminiscent of the Japanese American internment camps of World War Two, now considered to have been one of the most shameful episodes in US history,” she added.
Earlier Mrs Trump said she “hates to see children separated from their families and hopes both sides of the aisle [Republicans and Democrats in Congress] can finally come together to achieve successful immigration reform”.
“We need to be a country that follows all laws, but also a country that governs with heart,” her statement added.
Who is to blame?
Mr Trump has said a law “Democrats gave us” is responsible for the policy, but it is unclear which law he is referring to.
In a tweet on Saturday he urged Democrats to work with Republicans to create new legislation.
However, critics have pointed out that detaining children separately from their parents was a policy announced by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions last month.
The significant change, analysts say, is the justice department’s decision to criminally prosecute parents for a first-time border crossing offence. The children, however, are not charged with a crime, which means they cannot be jailed together.
What’s happening now?
The recent child detentions have resulted in some shelters and foster homes reporting that they are running out of space.
On Sunday, Democratic members of Congress paid a “surprise Father’s Day visit” to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre in New Jersey, demanding to see detainees separated from their children.
Meanwhile, officials announced plans to erect tent cities that will hold hundreds more children in the Texas desert where temperatures regularly reach 40C (105F).
Local lawmaker Jose Rodriguez described the plan as “totally inhumane” and “outrageous”, adding: “It should be condemned by anyone who has a moral sense of responsibility.”
Protesters marched to one such tent city in Tornillo, Texas, on Sunday where hundreds of children were being held separately from their parents.
On Sunday, Democratic members of Congress paid a “surprise Father’s Day visit” to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre in New Jersey, demanding to see detainees separated from their children.
Meanwhile, officials announced plans to erect tent cities that will hold hundreds more children in the Texas desert where temperatures regularly reach 40C (105F).
Local lawmaker Jose Rodriguez described the plan as “totally inhumane” and “outrageous”, adding: “It should be condemned by anyone who has a moral sense of responsibility.”
Protesters marched to one such tent city in Tornillo, Texas, on Sunday where hundreds of children were being held separately from their parents.
