The former US First Lady Laura Bush has condemned a controversial policy that splits up families who illegally enter the country at the Mexican border.
Writing in the Washington Post newspaper, she describes the separation of children from their parents as cruel, immoral and heart-breaking.
Her comments follow growing controversy over President Donald Trump's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy.
Earlier Melania Trump made a rare statement expressing concern.
Mrs Trump "hates to see children separated from their families", her spokeswoman said.
She repeated her husband's call for "both sides" to work on immigration reform as a solution. However, fact-checkers point out that the policy was introduced by Mr Trump's attorney general and does not require congressional action to be stopped.
"Both sides" - yeah, strawberry float off with that gooseberry fool, Melania. This is a Trump administration policy, and they're using it to try to bully Democrats into agreeing to their immigration reforms. Deplorable.
However, critics have pointed out that detaining children separately from their parents is the consequence of a policy announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions last month to deter new arrivals.
The significant change, analysts say, is the justice department's decision to prosecute parents if they illegally cross the border, even if it is their first offence. The children are not charged with a crime, which means they cannot be jailed together.
Until this policy was announced, such families were usually subject to civil deportation proceedings, which did not require separation.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44515123