Colorado governor bars state resources for Trump family separation policy

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) is barring state agencies from using state resources in support of carrying out President Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy that separates migrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border. 

The governor signed an executive order on Monday that forbids state resources from being used “to separate children from parents or legal guardians on sole ground of immigration status.”

{mosads}“The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s policy and practice of separating children from their parents when arriving at the southern border is offensive to our core values as Coloradans and as a country,” he states in the order.

Hickenlooper also sent a letter to Congress urging that they take action to stop the policy, according to CNN.

Hickenlooper’s move comes as many Democratic and Republican lawmakers voice outrage over the Trump administration’s policy that separates children from their parents the border. The policy, implemented in April, resulted in about 2,000 minors being separated from their parents between mid-April and the end of May, according to The Associated Press. 

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) on Monday canceled the deployment of his state’s National Guard troops to the border in protest of the policy.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) called for Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to resign in part over the family separations.

Nielsen has repeatedly defended the policy, and on Monday said children are being treated appropriately at immigration detention centers. 

Trump has also defended the policy, saying that he doesn’t want the U.S. to turn into a migrant camp.