Former first lady Michelle Obama on Monday joined former first lady Laura Bush in condemning the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance immigration policy.
“Sometimes truth transcends party,” Obama tweeted, sharing Bush’s Washington Post op-ed.
Sometimes truth transcends party. https://t.co/TeFM7NmNzU
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) June 18, 2018
In the op-ed published Sunday, Bush denounced the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy, under which all illegal immigrants who are apprehended crossing the border are referred to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution. The shift has led to an increase in the number of children who are separated from their parents and guardians while they are being prosecuted.
Bush drew comparisons between images showing children separated from their parents and housed in box-stores-turned-shelters to the Japanese American internment camps during World War II.
“I live in a border state. 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,” Bush wrote.
With Obama’s tweet, three previous first ladies have now criticized the Trump administration’s policy, including Hillary Clinton.
A spokeswoman for first lady Melania Trump said in a statement she hopes to see lawmakers on both side of the aisle pass immigration reform.
“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,” Stephanie Grisham, Trump’s communications director, said in a statement shared with the Washington Examiner. “She believes we need to be a country that follows all laws, but also a country that governs with heart.”
