Villaraigosa Calls Trump Immigration Crackdown 'Immoral' For 'Terrorizing' Families

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is criticizing the Trump administration for "terrorizing" and "dividing" families by deporting people who are in the U.S. illegally.

Villaraigosa told MSNBC the current administration's approach was "immoral" and that the U.S. immigration system is "broken".

"It's immoral to divide mothers from their children in the way that they are beginning to do now," said the former mayor. "Look, why don't we fix this broken immigration system — both Democrats and Republicans agree that it's broken — instead of terrorizing families, and dividing them in the way that they are doing here today and across the country."

While comparing Trump's immigration policy to those of Presidents Obama and Bush, Villaraigosa said Trump officials have "expanded the definition of a criminal offense to include crossing the border multiple times to come back to your family, to include using fake documents so when you are stopped that you are not deported, to include using driving without a driver's license when you couldn't get a driver's license."

Between 2009 and 2015, the Obama administration removed more than 2.5 million people through immigration orders - not counting those who were "self-deported" or returned to their home country at the border - more than any other U.S. president.

The 63-year-old Villaraigosa is running for California governor after leaving the mayor's office in 2013.