Former First Lady Laura Bush is among those speaking out against the zero-tolerance immigration policy that has led to hundreds of children being separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.
In an op-ed for the Washington Post that was posted Sunday night, Bush, a Dallas resident, called the policy "cruel" and "immoral."
"I live in a border state," Bush wrote. "I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart."
"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 outside of El Paso."
Nearly 2,000 children have been taken from their parents since Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the policy, which directs Homeland Security officials to refer all cases of illegal entry into the United States for prosecution. Church groups and human rights advocates have sharply criticized the policy, calling it inhumane.
Stories have spread of children being torn from their parents’ arms, and parents not being able to find where their kids have gone. A group of congressional lawmakers on Sunday visited a facility where families are being held at the border and were set to visit a longer-term shelter holding around 1,500 children — many of whom were separated from their parents.
In her op-ed, Bush said the images of children being held at a tent city in Tornillo, outside of El Paso, "are eerily reminiscent of the Japanese American internment camps of World War II, now considered to have been one of the most shameful episodes in U.S. history."
First Lady Melania Trump's spokeswoman released a statement about the policy Sunday, telling CNN, "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."
The Associated Press contributed to this report