The policy being deployed by the administration of President Donald Trump separating children from their parents at the Unites States – Mexico border is “a cruel and deliberate practice designed to sow fear and panic in migrant communities,” North Carolina 4th District Congressman David Price said in a statement issued Monday.

The policy has drawn national media attention in recent days and has brought about varying responses from members of the Trump administration.

More than 2,000 children have been separated from their parents since this policy was implemented, according to the Associated Press. Price said that is a “direct result of an administration action which can be reversed at any time, contrary to the President’s lies.”

This policy is “a form of child abuse,” Price said.

The congressman has been an advocate for protecting so-called Dreamers through legislation after Trump ended the DACA program providing protection from deportation to children brought into the US illegally. Price also rallied with the advocacy organization El Centro Hispano after raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were carried out in Orange County and across the Triangle earlier this year.

“No matter your political affiliation, we can all agree that we should not subject children and parents to the trauma of being separated. Trump’s ‘zero-tolerance’ policy is an affront to the values we hold as Americans, and we must do everything we can to put an end to it immediately.”

Former First Lady Laura Bush wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post calling for the end of the current administration’s immigration policy.

“I live in a border state,” the former first lady 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.”

Photo via United States Customs and Border Protection

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