US Rep. Yoder urges Sessions to halt separation of families

U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-KS) addresses the Prayer Vigil held for the victims of the Austins Bar and Grill shooting on February 26, 2017 in Olathe, Kansas. (Photo by Kyle Rivas/Getty Images) Kevin Yoder

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder is calling on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to halt the separation of families during a crackdown on illegal entries. 

The Wichita Eagle reports that Yoder says that as the son of a social worker, he knows the "trauma that comes with children being separated from their parents." He says it can take a "lasting, and sometimes even irreversible toll on the child's well-being." 

Yoder is chairman of a House Appropriations homeland security subcommittee. 

Nearly 2,000 children were separated from their families over a six-week period in April and May after Sessions announced the new "zero-tolerance" policy that refers all cases of illegal entry for criminal prosecution. Prior procedure had limited prosecution for many family entrants.

Sessions says the solution is to build a wall.