Couple raises more than $4M for free legal services for separated immigrant families

A California couple has raised more than $4 million as part of a Facebook campaign to reunite separated migrant families.

Charlotte and Dave Wilner started the campaign, titled “Reunite an immigrant parent with their child,” with a goal of raising $1,500. The effort began on Saturday, and more than 100,000 people have donated to the cause as of Tuesday morning.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg are among the donors, USA Today reported.

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Proceeds from the effort will be donated to RAICES, a nonprofit based in Texas that provides free legal services to immigrants and refugees.

The fundraiser comes amid a growing outcry over the Trump administration’s zero tolerance policy, which has led to the separation of thousands of migrant children from their parents.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the policy earlier this year, saying the Department of Justice would criminally prosecute all adults attempting to illegally cross the southern border into the U.S. As a result, families who crossed together would in some cases be separated, he said.

Several lawmakers from both major parties have asked the White House to stop separating families who illegally cross the southern border, with some introducing legislation to accomplish that.

The president and his administration have doubled down, however.

President Trump has blamed Democrats for failing to negotiate stronger immigration laws, and declared Monday that the U.S. “will not be a migrant camp and it will not be a refugee holding facility.”