Is the separation of families a 'cruel' policy or result of a broken system?

North Carolina's Republican lawmakers on Tuesday blamed a broken system for the separation of more than 2,300 immigrant children from their families, while Democrats blasted the policy as "cruel" and "immoral."

With photos showing children housed behind chain link fences, the policy has drawn fire from lawmakers on both sides as well as CEOs and religious leaders.

Republicans sought to put the issue in the context of broader immigration policy.

“We should not be separating children migrants from their families," GOP Sen. Thom Tillis said in a statement. "I believe we can strike the right balance between being compassionate . . . and also being smart by taking steps . . . to prevent future illegal immigration."

Rep. Ted Budd of Davie County said that while he's "in no way in favor of separating families," the situation is the result of a "larger broken immigration system that for far too long has gone unaddressed."

But Democrats put the blame squarely on President Donald Trump.

"The Trump Administration's policy of separating immigrant children from their parents . . . is a cruel and deliberate practice designed to sow fear and panic in migrant communities," Democratic Rep. David Price of Chapel Hill said.

The situation is the result of the administration's "zero tolerance" policy on illegal immigration. Children, who cannot be prosecuted with their parents, have been held separately.

"We want to solve family separation, and I don't want children taken away from parents," Trump said in Washington Tuesday. "And when you prosecute the parents for coming in illegally, which should happen, you have to take the children away."

For North Carolina's growing Hispanic community, the situation is harrowing. This week Pro Publica published an audio recording of children crying at the Texas detention centers.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, there are nearly 400,000 foreign-born Latinos in North Carolina. And the state has the nation's seventh-highest number of young, undocumented immigrants granted deferrals from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.

"This is a really scary atmosphere for immigrants in general now," said Hector Vaca, statewide immigrant rights organizer for the liberal group Action NC.

Two North Carolina lawmakers — Republican Rep. Mark Meadows and Democratic Rep. G.K. Butterfield — introduced separate legislation to address the border crackdown Tuesday.

Meadows, head of the conservative Freedom Caucus, introduced a measure that, among other things, would allow families to stay together even while parents are detained. Butterfield's bill, a version of a Senate bill called "Keeping Families Together," would bar authorities from separating families. The Senate bill has the support of 49 Democrats and independents.

The measures are among a flurry of immigration bills in Congress. Trump has called for comprehensive immigration reform and suggested that the controversial family policy could give him leverage in the fight.

"The president is seeking a solution to a disastrous immigration policy he inherited," GOP Rep. Robert Pittenger said. "Hopefully, cooler and more reflective minds will prevail."

Rep. Patrick McHenry, a House Republican leader, called the forced separation "awful to see."

"I share President Trump's belief that this policy needs to be changed," he said. "I'm hopeful that Congress can work in a bipartisan fashion to bring an end to this misguided policy."

Asked about the family separation earlier this month, Republican Mark Harris, who defeated Pittenger in the 9th District primary, said "the burden is back on the families that try to cross the border illegally." But on Tuesday he said he has "a growing concern with what is happening."

"Congress needs to act quickly to address this situation," he said. "And any solution must begin with the understanding that children belong with their parents . . . unless there is a real threat to the safety of the children or if the parents are involved in serious criminal behavior."

His opponent, Democrat Dan McCready, called the situation "unacceptable" and "un-American."

"Warehousing innocent children for political leverage goes against everything America stands for, and it has to stop," he said. "We can achieve bipartisan immigration reform that respects our laws, secures our border, and protects American values without ripping families apart."

Democrat Kathy Manning, Budd's opponent in the 13th District, called the administration policy "inexcusable."

"We absolutely can keep our country safe and keep families together at the same time," she said.

One Democrat, 8th District candidate Frank McNeill, already was trying to raise money from the border situation. "Breaking up families and separating children from their parents . . . is both immoral and damaging," he wrote in a fundraising appeal.

McNeill's opponent, GOP Rep. Richard Hudson, said that, while he supports the zero-tolerance policy, "we can do it without separating children from their families."

"We can and should be tough on securing the border and stopping illegal immigration," Hudson said, "but we can be tough without being cruel."

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr defended the administration's border action.

"The president is enforcing a longstanding law that requires adults crossing the border illegally face criminal penalties," he said in a statement. "The previous Administration ignored the law. . . . I am open and willing to consider any legislative proposals with bipartisan support that resolve the issue of family separation while securing our border."

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper called the policy "unconscionable" and "against what our country stands for."

Attorney General Josh Stein joined 20 other attorneys general in a letter asking U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to end the policy, which he called "an affront to American decency and the children's humanity."

Brian Murphy of McClatchy's Washington Bureau contributed.

This story was originally published June 19, 2018 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Is the separation of families a 'cruel' policy or result of a broken system?."