Nearly 2,000 children have been separated from their families at the US border since the start of the Trump administration's new “zero tolerance” policy on illegal immigration, according to new figures from the Department of Homeland Security.

Numbers obtained by the Associated Press show 1,995 minors were separated from their families between 19 April and 31 May, while trying to enter the country in between official crossings. Senior White House officials confirmed these numbers in a background briefing with members of the press.

Approximately 700 children were separated from their families between October and April, before the zero tolerance policy was implemented, according to the New York Times.

The new policy, which Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on 6 April, requires US officials to refer all adults who enter the country illegally for prosecution. Under existing law, migrant children must be housed separately while their parents face trial.

The new policy has sparked outcry from immigrants rights activists, who shared stories of children being torn from their parents’ arms at the border. The backlash escalated following an NBC report that detailed the conditions inside a Texas immigrant detention centre where children were allowed outside for only two hours per day.

Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Show all 14 1 /14 Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Immigrant children, many of whom are separated form their parents, are housed in Texas' tent city Reuters Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border A two-year-old Honduran asylum seeker cries as her mother is searched and detained near the US-Mexico border Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Undocumented migrants ride on the top of a freight train referred to as the beast, or La Bestia Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border A cage inside a US Customs and Border Protection detention facility in Texas Reuters Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US Border Patrol Academy All new agents must complete a months-long training course at the New Mexico facility before assuming their posts at Border Patrol stations, mostly along the US-Mexico border Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US-Mexico border fence A group of young men walk along the Mexican side of the US-Mexico border fence in a remote area of the Sonoran Desert Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US-Mexico border fence in the US Man looks through US-Mexico border fence into the US in Tijuana, Mexico Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US-Mexico border fence US Border Patrol agent Sal De Leon stands near a section of the US-Mexico border fence while stopping on patrol on in La Joya, Texas Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US Border Patrol Academy US Border Patrol instructor yells at trainees after their initial arrival to the academy Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Memorial service in Guatemala Families attend a memorial service for two boys who were kidnapped and killed in San Juan Sacatepequez, Guatemala. Crime drives emigration from Guatemala to the United States, as families seek refuge from the danger Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Arrests on the border Undocumented immigrants comfort each other after being caught by Border Patrol agents near the US-Mexico border Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Detention holding facility A boy from Honduras watches a movie at a detention facility run by the US Border Patrol Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Mexican farm workers Mexican migrant workers harvest organic parsley at Grant Family Farms in Wellington, Colorado Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Mexican family in Arizona A Mexican immigrant family sits in the living room of their rented home in Tuscon, Arizona. The family that Arizona's new tough immigrant law had created a climate of fear in the immigrant community. Getty

The United Nations called on the US to “immediately halt” the separation of parents and children, calling it "a serious violation of the rights of the child”. The organising body of Catholic bishops in the US has also called the policy "immoral" and called on the administration to reverse it.

But Mr Sessions has stood by the policy, at one point citing a bible verse in its defence.

“I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained the government for his purposes,” Mr Sessions said in a speech to police officers in Indiana.

“Orderly and lawful processes are good in themselves,” he added. “Consistent and fair application of the law is in itself a good and moral thing, and that protects the weak and protects the lawful.”

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White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also claimed that it was “very biblical to enforce the law,” adding: “That is, actually, repeated a number of times throughout the Bible.”

Mr Trump, meanwhile, has falsely claimed that the separation of families at the border was required under Democratic policies. There is no US law that requires such separations.

The new figures come after CNN published the story of an undocumented mother from Honduras who claimed federal authorities took her infant from her at the border while she was breastfeeding. An attorney representing the woman said she was handcuffed when she tried to resist.