Several California lawmakers call border separations cruel

SACRAMENTO - Several California lawmakers denounced the Trump administration's practice of separating children from their parents at the border, calling the policy "inhumane" during a Monday floor debate on a resolution proclaiming World Refugee Day.

Both Republicans and Democrats in the state Assembly used the debate to condemn the border policy before voting unanimously in favor of the resolution expressing support for people forced to flee their homes.

"Separating children from their parents is not only cruel, but it is inhumane," said Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo, who was brought to the U.S. illegally as a child. "It is an abuse to children."

The Los Angeles Democrat, who became an American citizen in her 20s, said her family fled violence in El Salvador and urged her fellow lawmakers to ensure people escaping violence can find refuge in the United States.

In April, Trump's administration adopted a zero-tolerance policy to prosecute people who do not arrive at an appropriate port of entry to claim asylum.

Republican Assemblyman Rocky Chavez criticized members of his party in Washington, saying they are using the policy to try to force action on immigration reform that includes the border wall.

"We should not be leveraging one of the core components of our society, that's the family, and separating them for a political solution," Chavez said. "You are just wrong in every sense of the world."