Protesters in Los Angeles marched against the practice of forcibly separating children from their parents at the US border last week. (ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey joined 21 other attorneys general Tuesday in signing a letter urging the Trump Administration to end forcible separations of migrant parents and children at the US-Mexico border.
"What the Trump administration is doing is immoral and reprehensible," said Healey in a release. "It’s unimaginable that the President would try to play politics by tearing babies from their mothers and leaving toddlers stranded and crying. As a matter of basic humanity, and for the good this country represents, the Trump Administration needs to immediately end this horrible policy."
Nearly 2,000 minors were separated from their parents in a six-week period since Sessions announced a "zero-tolerance" crackdown on illegal entry into the US, the Associated Press reports. The letter was addressed to US Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
"The policy is not only inhumane, but it also raises serious concerns regarding the violation of children’s rights, constitutional principles of due process and equal protection, and the efforts of state law enforcement officials to stop crime," the letter read. "Because of these concerns, we demand that the Department of Justice immediately cease these draconian practices."
Read the letter here: