'Will not apologise': Trump govt defends separation of migrant children, families

The US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has defended the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant children from their families after they are caught trying to cross the border into America.

'We will not apologise for the job we do or for the job law enforcement does,' news reports quoted her as saying. The reports said Nielsen was at the time speaking to a friendly audience of the National Sheriffs' Association.

She added that "illegal actions have and must have consequences".

Nielsen, appointed by Trump, later told reporters at a White House briefing that the administration was only strictly enforcing the law.

"This administration did not create a policy of separating families. ... What has changed is that we no longer exempt entire classes of people who break the law," she said.

The separation of children from their families has caused outrage in the US and around the world. The UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein recently called it “unconscionable” and an “abuse” of the children.

Earlier governments followed a "catch and release" policy. Immigrants caught trying to get into the US illegally were released back to their home countries.

The Trump government's"zero-tolerance" immigration policy howevermeans all adults trying to enter the US — including those seeking asylum — illegally are arrested.

While parents are held in jail, their children are sent to separate detention facilities, some in remote locations. Video footage released by the government showed migrant children held in wire cages, sitting on concrete floors.

An audio recording said to capture the sounds of immigrant children crying in a detention facility was circulating online. Reuters could not independently verify its authenticity.

Trump administration officials say the zero-tolerance policy, which was not practiced by the two previous presidents, is needed to secure the border and deter illegal immigration.

But Democrats and some Republicans have admonished the administration for dividing nearly 2,000 children from their parents between mid-April and the end of May.

“The increasing number of children being ripped away from their parents is sickening," said Democratic Senator Michael Bennet. "Yet the president and his administration continue to perpetuate falsehoods and blame others for their own cruelty."

After visiting an immigration detention centre in San Diego, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said: "Our message to Mr. Trump is, stop this inhumane, barbaric policy." Pelosi also called on Nielsen to resign from her post over the dispute.

(With inputs from Reuters)