Cuomo on family separations: ‘We cannot wash away this stain on American history’

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) laid into the Trump administration for its treatment of migrant families at the border and pledged to challenge its policies in court.

Cuomo in an op-ed for The New York Times says that President Trump’s decision Wednesday to sign an executive order halting the separation of families is an insufficient measure.

The children separated from their parents may have already sustained lasting emotional damage and many of those individuals may not be reunited with their parents, the New York governor wrote.

“We cannot wash away this stain on American history,” Cuomo wrote.

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“We will not let what has been done go unanswered, and we will do everything we can to ensure that it never happens again,” he added. “Together, we can reaffirm our commitment to the fundamental values that built this state and this nation.”

Cuomo’s comments come as the Trump administration faces growing backlash for its “zero tolerance” immigration policy that has led to the separation of thousands of migrant children from their parents at the border.

Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to halt that practice after repeatedly claiming that only Congress could address the issue.

Cuomo announced Tuesday that the state will file a “multi-agency lawsuit against the Trump administration for violating the Constitutional rights of immigrant children and their families who have been separated at the border.”

Cuomo, who is in the midst of a campaign for his third term as governor, has emerged as one of Trump’s top foils on the state level. He is considered a potential candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.

In his op-ed, he continued to tear into Trump for his treatment of young immigrants, calling it “a moral outrage and an affront to the teachings of every major religion.”

“The Trump administration’s inhumane treatment of immigrant children has left a dark stain on the history of our nation,” he wrote. “It is a human tragedy and a threat to our values.”