Michelle Obama Condemns Trump’s Child Separation Policy, Joining Other Former First Ladies

Former First Lady Michelle Obama is adding her voice criticizing President Donal Trump‘s “zero tolerance” immigration policy. Noting former First Lady Laura Bush‘s op-ed in the Washington Post on Sunday, Obama condemned the separation of immigrant children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

With the statement “Sometimes truth transcends party,” Obama joined other former first ladies like, Bush, Rosalynn Carter and Hillary Clinton. Carter tweeted on Monday saying the practice is “disgraceful” and “a shame to our country.”

Clinton spoke out at the Women’s Forum of New York calling the practice “a moral and humanitarian crisis.”

Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, said she had warned during the campaign that Trump’s hard-line immigration stance would result in family separations. “Now as we watch with broken hearts, that’s exactly what’s happening,” she said.

The Trump administration claims that their policy is required by the 1997 Flores court ruling. Democratic lawmakers and others have pointed out that no law mandates the separation of children and parents at the border.

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Professor of law, Ilya Somin, from the George Mason University told reporters that the legal settlement in no way mandates family separation and detention of children away from their parents. To the contrary, it instructs federal officials to “place each detained minor in the least restrictive setting appropriate” and to release them to the custody of family or guardians “without unnecessary delay.” The settlement also mandates that federal immigration officials must “treat all minors in its custody with dignity, respect and special concern for their particular vulnerability as minors,” Somin added.