An American Democratic representative has attacked the administration of President Donald Trump for forcefully separating refugees’ children from their parents at the border, calling the new policy “evil.”
Congressman Ted Lieu posted a message on Twitter on Friday, saying the new policy would “shock Jesus.”
“There are many ways to describe the Donald Trump policy of ripping children away from their parents at the border. It violates human rights laws. It is unAmerican. It would shock Jesus. But I think the most appropriate way to describe it is this: The policy is evil,” he wrote.
Later in the day, Lieu once again took to Twitter, this time making an appeal to first lady Melania about the issue, saying if she was “going to do anything about it?”
“Separating toddlers from parents is definitely not a Be Best policy,” Lieu wrote. “No one can take your Be Best children's agenda seriously when your husband's policy rips kids from their parents and loses track of the children.”
Lieu was referring to a campaign announced by the first lady earlier this month to teach children the importance of social, emotional and physical health.
“I am very excited to announce Be Best, an awareness campaign dedicated to the most valuable and fragile among us — our children,” Melania said.
The anti- immigration policy that officially went into effect earlier this month, has prompted heavy criticism from advocates for separating children from parents as a deterrence measure.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a “zero-tolerance policy” earlier this month, ordering federal prosecutors to peruse criminal charges against all referrals for illegally crossing the border, as possible.
“So, if you cross the border unlawfully…If you're smuggling a child, we're going to prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you, probably, as required by law,” Sessions said.
“If you don't want your child to be separated, then don't bring them across the border illegally,” he said.
The controversial policy, however, caused officials to lose track of children —an already existed problem— in the US foster care system, NBC news reported Friday.
While parents are imprisoned, according to the report, their kids are turned over to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, The Associate Press reported last month.
The children are then designated as “unaccompanied minors,” and the government tries to connect them to family members who are already in the United States, it said.
The new report, by NBC news, said Sessions' increasingly strong penalties sent hundreds more children into the system.
The government has yet to release figures for May, but according to public defenders, the report cited a large increase in the number of family separations since Sessions' announcement.
From October 2017 to mid-April, before the new prosecution strategy officially went into effect, more than 700 children were reportedly separated from their parents at the border, it said.