OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday said the U.S. practice of separating immigrant children from their parents on the southern border was unacceptable and wrong.
The comments were by far the harshest by a member of the Canadian government, which is trying to prevent a trade war with the United States.
Trudeau, under increasing political pressure to condemn Washington for the practice of splitting up families and putting children in enclosed detention centres, had said as recently as Monday that he would not play politics with the issue.
"What is happening in the United States is unacceptable. I cannot imagine what these families are going through. Obviously this is not the way we do things in Canada," Trudeau told reporters.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has faced intense criticism in the United States and from abroad over its "zero tolerance" policy under which immigrant children are being separated from their parents after they cross the U.S. border illegally.
Canada's left-leaning opposition New Democrats want Trudeau's government to suspend a deal with Washington whereby asylum seekers who arrive at a formal Canadian border crossing from the United States are turned back.
Under the terms of the Safe Third Country Agreement, these people are told to apply for asylum in the United States, which is deemed safe. Critics say recent events show this is not the case.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Berkrot)