(CNN) In the Utah Senate debate Tuesday night, GOP candidate Mitt Romney called family separations at the border "a dark chapter in American history," and said that "this is inexcusable, and can't go on."

"This was a heartbreak," Romney said at the debate, in response to a question about immigrant family separation. "This was a dark chapter in American history, to see children separated from their parents."

"This is inexcusable, and can't go on," the Senate candidate said.

Romney faces off in November against Democratic opponent Jenny Wilson, a member of the Salt Lake County Commission.

In May, the Trump administration announced a policy where authorities would criminally prosecute anyone who crossed the border illegally. This meant that undocumented immigrants who faced prosecution were held in federal prisons, where their children couldn't be with them.

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