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Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon gives a statement regarding family separation after visiting the Southwest Key Casa Padre Facility in Brownsville on Sunday, June 17, 2018. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland stands beside Merkley.(Photo: Courtney Sacco,Caller-Times)

WASHINGTON West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin on Monday became the 49th Democrat to sign onto a bill intended to halt family separations for immigrants accused of trying to cross the border illegally.

Every Senate Democrat is now a co-sponsor of the legislation which would prohibit children from being separated from their parents within100 miles of the U.S. border except for instances of abuse, neglect or other specific circumstances.

As a father, grandfather, and Christian, I am wholeheartedly opposed to any policy that allows innocent children to be separated from their parents as they enter our country, Manchin said in a statement.

The Keep Families Together Act was introduced by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein this month after the Trump administration started instituting a zero tolerance immigration policy, under which anyone who crosses the border illegally will be prosecuted.

More: Migrant detention center: Not much room for kids to play in the warehouse-like facility

More: Amid outrage, Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen 'will not apologize' for separating families

More: Trump says crime in Germany 'way up' because of immigration. He's wrong.

America's current and former first ladies are weighing in on the "zero tolerance" policy that has contributed to nearly 2,000 children being taken from their parents at the U.S. Mexico border. USA TODAY

Because of a decades-old court decision, called the Flores Settlement, immigrant children must be held under the least restrictive settings possible, which means they cannot be detained for long periods of time with their parents.

If a mother and child enter the U.S. illegally, the mother is sent to a federal jail or other detention center to await prosecution.Since children cannot be held in an adult facility, theyre put into the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement.

Through the end of May, nearly 2,000 children were separated from their parents, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats have jumped on the separations, with a stream of lawmakers showing up at the border and other detention centers anddemanding to see what is happening.

The bill has no support from Senate Republicans, despite some saying they are uncomfortable with what is currently taking place at the border.

President Donald Trump has frequently blamed Democrats, including tweets on Monday that said they were at fault for "weak and ineffective" border security.Members of his administration, including Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, have defended the policy.

"We have to do our job. We will not apologize for doing our job," she said Monday during a speech to the National Sheriff's Association in New Orleans. "This administration has a simple message If you cross the border illegally, we will prosecute you."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has defended the policy repeatedly,cited the Bibleamid criticism from faith leaders last week.

Orderly and lawful processes are good in themselves, Sessions said. Consistent, fair application of law is in itself a good and moral thing, and it protects the weak.

House Republicans have tried to address the issue in a broad immigration bill that would also fund the presidents border wall, provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, and end the diversity visa lottery program and limit family-based migration.

But critics say the way the GOP bill wouldnt really fix the problem because it would just relax the Flores Settlement and children would still end up separated from their parents, though for a briefer period of time.

No Democrats have indicated support for the GOP measure and it is still unclear if it will muster enoughRepublicansupport to pass the House. It faces very little chance of passing the Senate, where legislation requires at least 10 Democrats to support it. The president supports the bill.

Sen. Kamala Harris, a California Democrat, went even further Monday afternoon by calling on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to resign over the policy.

"It's time for Secretary Nielsen to resign. The government should be in the business of keeping families together, not tearing them apart. And the government should have a commitment to transparency and accountability. Under her tenure, DHS does not have a track record of either," she tweeted. Harris is one of multiple Democrats who is reportedly considering a presidential run in 2020.

Nielsen has been under increasing fire as she continues to push back against criticism of the policy.

Contributing: Deirdre Shesgreen

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All Senate Democrats now support a bill that would ...

Democrats expressed concerns Wednesday about President Trump's executive order, which will allow parents who have crossed the U.S. border illegally to remain with their children. The move, some Democrats argued, simply detains illegal immigrants "indefinitely."

The order Trump signed allows children to stay in detention with their parents for an extended period of time. It does not, however, end the "zero-tolerance" policy that criminally prosecutes adults entering the country without proper documentation.

TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER TO STOP FAMILY SEPARATIONS AT BORDER

Trump's order came after he and other officials repeatedly said only Congress had the power to stop children and their parents from being separated.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., tweeted Wednesday night that the executive order "merely replaces one inhumane act with another."

"In response to the overwhelming public outrage at his policy of tearing children away from their parents at the border, this administration thinks the appropriate response is to indefinitely detain families," Sanders said.

The senator said he's "hopeful ... the courts will step in to rein in these unlawful actions."

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, of California, shared similar sentiments, tweeting: "Its extremely troubling that the presidents executive order would require immigrant families with children to be detained indefinitely."

"This Executive Order doesnt fix the crisis," Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., wrote. "Indefinitely detaining children with their families in camps is inhumane and will not make us safe."

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, however, tweeted that to say immigrant children are detained in the U.S. "'indefinitely & indiscriminately' ... is just PATENTLY FALSE." He argued that using the term "indefinite detention" is "disingenuous."

The separations stem from the administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy, which aims to prosecute all illegal border crossers. The policy moves adults to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and sends many children to facilities run by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The policy had led to a spike in family separations in recent weeks, with more than 2,300 minors separated from their families at the border from May 5 through June 9, according to the Department of Homeland Security

Trump said Wednesday that while "we're going to have strong, very strong borders ... we're going to keep families together."

Children, because of a 1997 order and related decisions, cannot be detained for longer than 20 days with the adults. A senior Justice Department official told The Associated Press that hasn't changed.

Fox News' Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Nicole Darrah covers breaking and trending news for FoxNews.com. Follow her on Twitter @nicoledarrah.

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Democrats slam Trump's executive order for detaining ...

ELIZABETH, N.J. (Reuters) - Democratic lawmakers joined protesters outside immigration detention facilities in New Jersey and Texas on Sunday for Fathers Day demonstrations against the Trump administrations practice of separating children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

This must not be who we are as a nation, said Representative Jerrold Nadler, one of seven members of Congress from New York and New Jersey who met with five detainees inside a facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, including three who said they had young relatives removed from their care after seeking asylum at the border.

The events came as news stories highlighting the family separations intensified political pressure on the White House, even from some of President Donald Trumps fellow Republicans.

U.S. officials said on Friday that nearly 2,000 children were separated from adults at the border between mid-April and the end of May.

In May, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a zero tolerance policy in which all those apprehended entering the United States illegally, including those seeking asylum, would be criminally charged, which generally leads to children being separated from their parents.

Administration officials have defended the tactic as necessary to secure the border and suggested it would act as a deterrent to illegal immigration.

But the policy has drawn condemnation from medical professionals, religious leaders and immigration activists, who warn that some children could suffer lasting psychological trauma. The children are held in government facilities, released to adult sponsors or placed in temporary foster care.

In South Texas on Sunday, several Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Jeff Merkley, visited a Border Patrol Processing Center in McAllen to call attention to the policy, while Representative Beto ORourke, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Texas, led a protest march to a temporary detention facility for immigrant children set up near El Paso.

ORourke told the demonstrators they had to bear the burden of what we now know to be happening.

I want that burden to be so uncomfortable for so many of us that it forces us to act, it places the public pressure on those in positions of public trust and power to do the right thing for our country, ORourke, who is seeking to unseat Republican Senator Ted Cruz, said to applause.

Some moderate Republicans have also called on Trump to stop the separations. Senators Susan Collins and Jeff Flake wrote to White House officials on Saturday seeking more information on the policy.

It is inconsistent with our American values to separate these children from their parents, Collins said on CBS Face the Nation on Sunday.

Trump has sought to blame Democrats, saying their support for passage of a broader immigration bill would end the separations.

White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said on NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday: As a mother, as a Catholic, as somebody who has got a conscience. ... I will tell you that nobody likes this policy.

You saw the president (say) on camera that he wants this to end, she added.

A spokeswoman for Melania Trump told CNN on Sunday that the first lady hates to see children separated from their families and hopes lawmakers from both parties can agree on immigration reform.

In an opinion piece in the Washington Post, former first lady Laura Bush, wife of the previous Republican president, George W. Bush, said she lives in a border state and appreciates the need to enforce and protect the U.S. borders.

But this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart, Bush wrote, adding the images were eerily reminiscent of the Japanese American internment camps of World War II, now considered to have been one of the most shameful episodes in U.S. history.

Democrats have accused the president of effectively turning the children into political hostages to secure stricter immigration measures, such as funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.

Stop lying to the American people. This is your policy, Democratic U.S. Representative Hakeem Jeffries said in New Jersey.

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives will introduce legislation this week aimed at stopping separations, mirroring a similar Senate bill sponsored by Democrat Dianne Feinstein. But neither bill has much hope of securing enough support in the Republican-controlled Congress, let alone surviving Trumps veto pen.

Roy Garcia, 43, attended the New Jersey protest with his wife, Linda, and their sons, 8-year-old Julian and 11-year-old Sebastian.

Its hard for me to enjoy Fathers Day knowing whats happening to other children and families, he said. Its heartbreaking.

Reporting by Joseph Ax; Additional reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir and Valerie Volcovici in Washington; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Peter Cooney

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Democrats, activists rally against Trump's family ...

We are the Democratic Party of the 34th Legislative District. We work to elect Democrats, uphold Democratic values, and support Democrats in Seattle, White Center, Burien, Vashon/Maury Island and beyond.

We are our elected officials. We are our candidates. We are the activists who knock on doors in neighborhoods from Alki to Tahlequah and the voters who make their voices heard each election. We are all volunteers. We are your neighbors. We are your co-workers. We are your friends. We stand up for the marginalized and the voiceless among us. We join arms with allies to fight against injustice and fight for equity. We are engaged in our communities and we are committed to a brighter future for all of us.

We believe in inclusion, that unity is better than division, that we are stronger and better when everyone has an equal shot at living up to their potential. We believe diversity is a source of strength and that inequality is a threat to democracy itself. We believe its important to stand up to tyrants and bullies. We believe in the power of individuals working together to make great progress against incredible odds. We believe in you.

Join us in the fight of our lives. It might not be easy, but it will be rewarding. And we will win.

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34th Democrats 34th Legislative District Democrats

Together We Can Be Better.

Our June meeting heard presentations from candidates for the 8th Congressional District, the Pierce County Council, and the Pierce County District Court.We also had an opportunity to ask the candidates questions. Following those conversations, we compared their strengths and adopted the following endorsements.

2018 Endorsements

Jamie Smith Position 1Brian Duthie Position 2

Our nomination does not eliminate the Top Two Primary in August,but it does inform voters of our considered preferences.Additionally if our nominated and elected candidate is unable to complete an elected term,then our nomination assures our PCOs a voice in the choice of a successor by the Pierce County Council.

Economic Justice

Read Paul Krugman's List of Republican Lies about their tax give away to the ultra rich.

Thisvideo provides a compelling and stark comparison of

Why Does the Disparate Distribution of Wealth Matter So Much?

Watch this short videofor a clear explanation of how extra wealth generates vast incomemore that the most lavish life style could absorbthat then compounds and exacerbates the disparate distribution of wealth.

The Affordable Care Act still remains at risk. Call Dave Reichert's Issaquah Office at(425) 677-7414 or (877) 920-9208to insistthat he protect Washington State's 600,000 people covered by Medicaid expansion and more than 225,000 people that obtained insurance through theExchange on Washington State's Exchange. Phone calls appear to be the most effective vehicle to express our positions because they consume office staff's timeand patience.

For free face-to-face help in understanding how to get insurance visit or call

For free assistance from the state, call 1-855-WAFINDER (1-855-923-4633)TTY/TTD 1-855-627-9604

To compare plans or to enroll on line visit the Washington Health Plan Finder.

There They Go Again

Read the Republican planto cut Social Security. Even though Social Security can be made safe and sound forever by eliminating the cap and applying FICA to all income,the Republicans prefer to cut benefits and raise the retirement age. Read the Social Security Administration's report by the Chief Actuary.

You Draw It: How Family Income Affects Childrens' College Chances. How likely is it for children who grow up in very poor families to go to college? How about children who grow up in very rich families?The New York Times gives you an opportunity todraw your estimate for every income level on a graph and then to compare your estimate to the actual experience of nearly 100,000 children born in the 80's.

This next story, however, describes the difference family income can make in graduation rates.

Affluent Students Have an Advantage and the Gap Is Widening.

The gap in graduation rates, however, can be narrowed when Universities make an effortto improve graduation rates.

The 25th LDD supports truly equal opportunity in education at all levels.Financial support is necessary but not sufficient. Vote for Legislators that care about all us.Together We Can Be Better.

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