The White House misspelt the word “separation” in the executive order Donald Trump signed ending the controversial policy of family separation at the Mexican border.

The order was titled “Affording Congress an Opportunity to Address Family Separation” but initially spelt the last word “seperation”.

The misspelling was quickly corrected but screenshots of the blunder appeared on social media.

People rapidly noticed the glaring error, mocking the Trump administration which has gained a reputation for making grammatical mistakes.

The new “zero tolerance” immigration policy of splitting families at the US-Mexico border has sparked worldwide outrage and bipartisan criticism.

Between 5 May and 9 June of this year more than 2,000 children were separated under the scheme, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

After consistently defending the policy, Mr Trump finally succumbed to pressure and signed an order overturning the practice.

On Wednesday, the president said he “didn’t like the sight or the feeling of families being separated”.

The White House said in a statement that the administration wanted to "maintain family unity, including by detaining alien families together where appropriate and consistent with law and available resources".

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 president, who accused immigrants of “infesting” the country a day earlier, said the executive order was “about keeping families together, while at the same time being sure that we have a very powerful, very strong border”.

Mr Trump denied allegations he was performing a U-turn on his stringent immigration stance - telling reporters at the signing the southern border was “just as tough” as before.

Since May, the Trump administration has charged every adult caught crossing the border illegally entering the US at the Mexican border with federal crimes, instead of referring those with children mainly to immigration courts in the way that former administrations did.

Adult immigrants facing charges are housed separately from their children - resulting in the separation of parents from children reportedly as young as eight-months-old.

The Trump administration has been frequently mocked for its grammatical errors and the president has become famed for firing off rambling, inflammatory tweets – which include misspellings, typos and other linguistic errors – to his 53 million followers.