World leaders slam Trump for separating families at the US-Mexico border

Christinne Muschi/Reuters

World leaders are condemning President Donald Trump for his "zero tolerance" immigration policy that's seen thousands of migrant families separated at the US-Mexico border.

• Leaders across the globe are slamming the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy that has seen thousands of migrant families separated at the US-Mexico border. 
• Key US allies, including the UK, Canada, and France, are among the most vocal critics. 
• Department of Homeland Security numbers show that roughly 2,000 migrant children have been separated from their families at the border in a recent six-week period. 

Leaders across the globe are slamming the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy that has seen thousands of migrant families separated at the US-Mexico border. 

Key US allies, including the UK, Canada, and France, are among the most vocal critics. 

British Prime Minister Theresa May said she found images of children being detained in cages "deeply disturbing" and called the separation policy "wrong."

"This is wrong, this is not something that we agree with. This is not the UK's approach," May told British lawmakers on Wednesday.  

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whom President Donald Trump has quarreled with in recent weeks over trade, also condemned the separation policy.

"What's going on in the United States is wrong," Trudeau said Wednesday. "I can't imagine what the families living through this are enduring. Obviously, this is not the way we do things in Canada."

Benjamin Griveaux, a French government spokesman, said the separation policy showed that France and the US "don't share the same values."

Trump's separation policy even drew ire from Marine Le Pen, who is notoriously anti-immigrant.

"I am opposed to a procedure that separates parents and children," Le Pen said. "Those who are responsible are the immigrant parents and the politicians who encourage them to come."

Iran, which tends to seize any opportunity to criticize US government policy, also spoke out against the separation of families. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, "Seeing the images of the crime of separating thousands of children from their mothers in America makes a person exasperated."

Meanwhile, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein - the UN's top human rights official - essentially accused the US of committing child abuse.

"The thought that any state would seek to deter parents by inflicting such abuse on children is unconscionable," al-Hussein said on Monday. 

The international community's condemnation of Trump's immigration policies has been compounded by the Trump administration's decision to withdraw the US from the UN Human Rights Council. 

Beyond the political world, religious leaders like Pope Francis have decried the Trump administration's separation of migrant families, calling the policy "immoral."

Department of Homeland Security numbers show roughly 2,000 migrant children have been separated from their families at the border in a recent six-week period. 

The Trump administration has offered inconsistent justifications for the separation policy, but on Wednesday signaled the president might sign an executive order to help keep migrant families together. 

At the moment, thousands of migrant children are being held in various federal government facilities, including a "tent city" in stifling heat located in Tornillo, Texas not far from the US-Mexico border.