Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg donate to a fundraiser that is raising $4,000 A MINUTE to help immigrant children separated from their parents
- The pair both donated to online fundraiser set up by Charlotte and Dave Willner
- Supports Texas-based Refugee and Immigrant Center, which provides legal aid
- The Facebook fundraiser has now raised more than $5m out of the $6m target
- That is an average of $4,000 a minute since the bid was started up on Saturday
- Zuckerberg also announced his own appeal for the Texas Civil Rights Project
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg (pictured in an undated photo) on Tuesday donated to a fundraiser for the Refugee and Immigrant Center set up by former employees Charlotte and Dave Willner
Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg have donated to charities that help reunite immigrant children separated from their parents at the U.S. border as they declared: 'This policy needs to end now'.
The pair both gave money to a fundraiser for the Texas-based Refugee and Immigrant Center (RAICES), which provides legal representation to separated families and helps immigrants gain legal status.
A Facebook fundraising page, which was set up by former workers Charlotte and Dave Willner, has achieved more than $5m out of the $6m target since it was set up on Saturday morning.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg took aim at the Trump administration's 'zero tolerance' policy, and announced a separate fundraiser for the Texas Civil Rights Project, which also provides legal help and translation services to immigrants.
The total raised by Zuckerberg's own appeal currently stands at more than $15,000 but this is also rising rapidly.
'I've donated to them and I encourage you to as well. We need to stop this policy right now,' he wrote.
Sandberg also made a donation to the Willner appeal and slammed the policy of separating the children of illegal immigrants from their parents.
'Listening to the cries of children separated from their parents is unbearable,' she wrote. 'The practice of family separation on our border needs to end now. We can't look away. How we treat those most vulnerable says a lot about who we are.'
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg took aim at the Trump administration's policy, and announced a new fundraiser for the Texas Civil Rights Project
Sandberg also made a donation to the Willner appeal and slammed Trump's policy in a Facebook post on Tuesday
It comes as anger continues to grow over the controversial policy as pictures were released showing immigrant children lined up in a series of cages created by metal fencing at these detention centers.
On Friday, it was revealed that nearly 2,000 children were separated from adults at the border between mid-April and the end of May.
The page for the Reunite an immigrant parent with their child fundraiser was highly critical of the practice, with organizer Charlotte Willner writing on Saturday: 'We are collectively revulsed at what's happening to immigrant families on our southern border.
'In times when we often think that the news can't possibly get worse, it does - we learned last night that 2000 children [many of them infants and toddlers] have been separated from their parents in just six weeks under President Trump's 'zero tolerance' policy.'
In May, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a 'zero tolerance' policy in which all those apprehended entering the US illegally, including those seeking asylum, would be criminally charged, which generally leads to children being separated from their parents.
Those children are now living in detention centers along the US-Mexico border.
Trump's policy has drawn condemnation from medical professionals, religious leaders, and immigration activists, who warn that some children could suffer lasting psychological trauma.
A Facebook fundraising page, which was set up by former workers Charlotte and Dave Willner, has achieved more than $5m out of the $6m target since it was set up on Saturday morning
Donald Trump's policy has drawn condemnation from medical professionals, religious leaders, and immigration activists. He is pictured during the G7 summit in Quebec City on June 9
American Academy of Pediatrics President Dr Colleen Kraft has even called the policy 'government-sanctioned child abuse'.
Kraft, who toured an immigration detention center herself, revealed chilling details about a room in which almost every toddler was silent in shock.
'I can't describe to you the room I was in with the toddlers,' she told CNN.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham was slammed for referring to the detention centers as 'summer camps' on her Monday show.
This image, taken on Saturday, shows illegal immigrants, including children, lined up in a series of cages created by metal fencing at a detention center in McAllen, Texas, on Saturday
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