WASHINGTON—Donald Trump is facing one of the most severe political crises of his presidency over his decision to separate children from their parents after they have unlawfully crossed the southern border.

Concerned about his voter base above all others, Trump has always believed that a hard line on Latino immigration is a political winner even when his opponents are accusing him of cruelty and racism. But this stand has triggered a far broader outcry than usual, drawing emotional condemnation from people who have supported or stayed silent about his other provocative moves.

Former first lady Laura Bush, who almost never expresses public opinions, wrote an essay in the Washington Post calling the separations “immoral” and heartbreaking. Talk host Ellen DeGeneres, whose online presence is largely apolitical, wrote on Twitter: “I don’t care what your politics are, we can’t be a country that separates children from their parents.”

By Monday afternoon, Republican members of Congress worried about campaign damage were using words like “heartless” and “inhumane.” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, normally a hardliner on immigration, announced “emergency legislation” to kill the practice.

Trump was unwavering. He was simultaneously pretending that he had nothing to do with the practice at all.

Anti-immigration officials like Attorney General Jeff Sessions have proudly touted the separation policy. Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen have chosen to both preserve it and lie about it — falsely claiming again Monday that they are merely enforcing the law, though no such law exists, and are helpless to stop unless Congress passes new legislation, though Trump could end it at any time.

“Trump and Sessions are using immigration as an issue to agitate their base for midterm elections while at the same time trying to wash their hands of this as they lie to the American people,” said Jess Morales Rocketto, political director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, who participated in a Sunday vigil outside a McAllen, Texas facility where children are being held.

The furor erupted after Sessions announced in May that the administration would start criminally prosecuting anyone caught entering the U.S. illegally, including people who want to apply for legal asylum but do not present themselves at a legal port of entry. More than 2,700 families have been separated.

Like the movement three years ago to help Syrian refugees, the firestorm has been fuelled by disturbing images of children suffering. Among them are a photo of a despondent 2-year-old girl and a photo of children caged into the McAllen warehouse. The optics got even worse on Monday afternoon, when ProPublica published audio of wailing children crying “Mami” and “Papa” as a Border Patrol agent joked about their “orchestra.”

On other issues, such as the gassing of Syrian children, Trump has professed to be moved to action by photos of victimized kids. On immigration, though, the man who launched his campaign calling Mexican immigrants rapists has been consistent: he wants to show no mercy.

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Nielsen brushed off reporters’ questions about the well-being of the children. Asked how the separations do not constitute child abuse, she responded: “Enforcing the law?”

There is political incentive for the administration to stand firm. Polls released Monday showed that while the public as a whole was strongly against the separations (66 per cent were opposed, 27 per cent were in favour, Quinnipiac found), Republicans were strongly in favour (35 per cent opposed, 55 per cent in favour).

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But Republican strategists were still queasy. Scott Jennings, a senior adviser on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s past campaigns, has applauded Trump’s inflammatory use of the word “animals” about the street gang MS-13, calling it effective politics. Of the separations, however, Jennings said, “The politics aren’t good and I suspect they will come to regret this policy.”

The battle over the separations is playing out as Republicans are debating immigration legislation that would deal with, among other things, the fate of the other group of young people whose future Trump has threatened: the “DREAMers,” people brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

“My advice to the president is be a hero. Say you got bad advice, end this family separation policy, and then go get your broader immigration deal,” Jennings said.

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