US: First ladies call for changes on child separation policy

Washington The emotional debate over separating immigrant parents and their children at the nations southern border is getting some strong comments from first ladies past and present who want the practice changedFirst lady Melania Trump hates to see families separated at the border and hopes both sides of the aisle can reform the nations immigration laws according to a statement from her office yesterday about the controversyFormer first lady Laura Bush called the policy cruel and immoral and said it breaks my heart For both it was an unusual entry into a fierce political debate Mrs Trump didnt refer specifically to the Trump administrations no tolerance policy which was leading to a spike in children being separated from their familiesGovernment statistics indicate that nearly 2000 children were separated from their families over a sixweek period in April and MayA spokeswoman for the wife of President Donald Trump issued the statement after several days of images of crying children appearing on television and onlineMrs 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 said Stephanie Grisham a spokeswoman for Mrs Trump She believes we need to be a country that follows all laws but also a country that governs with heartWhile the statement suggested the matter was an issue for Congress Democratic lawmakers and others have pointed out that no law mandates the separation of children and parents at the borderA new Trump administration policy which went into effect in May sought to maximize criminal prosecutions of people caught trying to enter the US illegally More adults were being jailed as a result which led to their children being separated from themLaura Bush was writing a guest column for The Washington Post yesterday and compared the policy to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War III appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries but this zerotolerance 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 Trump said Friday I hate the children being taken away but he also falsely blamed Democrats for a law requiring itIn an effort to rebut criticism of the administration Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Sunday repeated in a tweet the departments view We do not have a policy of separating families at the border Period In a separate tweet she accused the news media and others of misreporting the issue and called on those seeking asylum to do so at ports of entry rather than crossing illegallyThis misreporting by Members press amp advocacy groups must stop It is irresponsible and unproductive As I have said many times before if you are seeking asylum for your family there is no reason to break the law and illegally cross between ports of entry Nielsen wrote