James Comey (Pictured made the remarks during a visit to Dublin on Friday during a promotional tour of his book (June 22, 2018)

Former FBI Director James Comey contemplated telling Irish custom agents that he was from Canada because of the shame he feels over America's immigration crisis at the US-Mexico border.

Comey, who was unceremoniously removed as head of the bureau by President Donald Trump last year, made the remarks during a visit to Dublin to promote his new book, A Higher Loyalty.

'I am ashamed of the way my country has acted with respect of those children. I am disgusted, I am horrified, I am embarrassed, I'm ashamed,' Comey said in a public interview on Friday, according to the Irish Times.

'My wife and I were joking, not really joking; we wanted to tell the people on the customs line coming here that we were Canadian. And we were joking but it's funny because it reveals a truth: I'm ashamed.'

President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week putting an end to the administration's so-called 'zero tolerance' policy, which over the past several weeks has seen thousands of undocumented immigrants separated from their children after crossing the US border from Mexico.

'I am ashamed of the way my country has acted with respect of those children. I am disgusted, I am horrified, I am embarrassed, I'm ashamed,' Comey said

The former chief of domestic federal law enforcement said that he hopes that something good will arise from the current turmoil at the border

Government officials warn, however, that the policy shift may take time to implement and could face legal challenges in courts across America, leaving many questions unanswered as scores of parents anxiously await to be reunited with their children.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week putting an end to the administration's so-called 'zero tolerance' policy (June 23, 2018)

The former chief of domestic federal law enforcement said that he hopes that something good will arise from the turmoil the US is experiencing at the moment, likening the mood to the one felt in the 1960s amid the civil rights movement.

'I am horrified by what happened on our border but I wonder if something good might not come from that.'

Among the litany of topics Comey touched upon included an extensive discussion on his decision to announce a reopening of an email investigation into Hillary Clinton at the tail-end of the 2016 presidential election. Many observers believe the move cost Clinton the presidency.

Comey also remarked about his brief interactions with Trump, a man he described as 'morally unqualified for office.'

'The rule of law is spine,' Comey said at the end of his remarks. 'No president serves long enough to screw that up. Donald Trump, even if he were competent, he could not screw that up.'

In an interview with The Guardian on Thursday, Comey issued a strong rebuke of the Trump administration's handling of the current border crisis, likening the treatment of migrants coming into the US to Japanese internment camps during World II.

'When you stare at children crying, being taken away from their mothers, it forces your eyes above statutes and numbers, to: "What kind of people are we, for God's sakes?"

Just last week a Justice Department report called Comey 'insubordinate' and said the FBI was too slow reviewing a trove of Hillary Clinton's emails found late in the 2016 campaign.