Top pediatrician says separating migrant children from families is 'child abuse' after visit to facility

The president of the American Academy of Pediatrics says migrant children being separated from their parents at the border "does amount to child abuse."

Dr. Colleen Kraft spoke with CNN and described her visit to a facility where migrant children are being housed.

“These children have been traumatized on their first trip up to the border and the first thing that happens is we take away the one constant in their life that helps them buffer all of these horrible experiences. That’s child abuse.”

Kraft says the conditions could produce “toxic stress,” an elevation of fight or flight hormones that remain high and can affect brain development and keep children from developing language and social or emotional bonds.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services could be holding up to 30,000 migrant children by the end of August.

According to the Washington Examiner, more than 11,000 children are under HHS custody and about 250 per day are being brought in.

The zero tolerance policy President Trump announced last month aggressively prosecutes adults trying to enter the United States illegally.

It leads to children getting separated from their parents.