Protesters slam 'immoral' Trump policy of separating immigrant families

Human rights groups have staged rallies across the US to denounce a policy by the administration of President Donald Trump to separate asylum-seeking Central American immigrant children from their parents.

Hundreds of people chanted "families belong together" in front of the Justice Department on Friday, accusing the White House of violating human rights and traumatizing children for political reasons.

"This is indeed an emergency - every single day children are ripped apart from their parents and the Trump administration must immediately cease this policy," said Jessica Morales, chairwoman of We Belong Together, an immigrant advocacy group.

The protests came after the Trump administration confirmed that it had split hundreds of families who crossed the US-Mexican border without immigration documents since October.

Each week, thousands cross the US-Mexico border and immediately turn themselves in to authorities asking for asylum. In April alone, 50,924 people were detained after crossing the border without papers, including 4,314 unaccompanied children and 9,647 family units, according to US Customs and Border Patrol.

Last month, the head of the US Justice Department, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, announced an official policy of arresting and separating all parents from their children if they cross the border illegally.

Sessions said the "zero tolerance" policy will see every unauthorized border crosser charged with a crime even before they can request asylum.

The government sees the policy as a necessary deterrent to illegal immigration, but critics say it is cruel to refugees fleeing violence from Central America countries like El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

"This attorney general made a decision to separate our kids from their parents. This is immoral, it's a crime, and we are not going to accept that," said Gustavo Torres, executive director of the immigrant advocacy group CASA.

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit challenging the policy, calling it a violation of human rights. "Separating families is more than cruel and unnecessary - it's torture," the ACLU said.

A coalition of migrant advocates and rights groups submitted a complaint to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Thursday, asking it to "immediately stop a human rights and humanitarian crisis perpetrated by the US government in the Texas-Mexico border."

Trump has shown little tolerance for undocumented immigrants since taking office last year. The Republican president has promised to build a wall on the border with Mexico to stop migrant flow into the US.

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