WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and immigration (all times local):

10:15 a.m.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says officials will not apologize for enforcing immigration laws that result in the separation of children from their parents.

Nielsen was speaking Monday at the National Sheriff's Association conference in New Orleans. Last month, Homeland Security began referring all cases of illegal entry to the Justice Department for prosecution. Nielsen says agents are not acting cruelly, but are enforcing the laws passed by Congress. She says past administrations asked immigration agents to look the other way when families crossed the border illegally, but no longer.

The policy has resulted in nearly 2,000 minors separated from their families over six weeks, and is drawing strong criticism from lawmakers from both parties and advocates who call the tactic inhumane.

Nielsen says agents shouldn't apologize for doing their jobs.

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10:10 a.m.

President Donald Trump is asserting that children "are being used by some of the worst criminals on earth" as a way to enter the United States along the southern border.

He tweets, "Has anyone been looking at the Crime taking place south of the border," calling it "historic."

Trump has been pushing back against criticism of his "zero-tolerance" immigration policy that has led to children being separated from their families along the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

He is pointing the finger at Democrats, faulting them "for being weak and ineffective" on immigration.

But it's not the Democrats' law. There is no law mandating the separation of children and parents at the border. And Trump's own Republican Party controls both chambers of Congress.

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9:15 a.m.

President Donald Trump is rejecting criticism that his "zero-tolerance" immigration policy has caused family separations at the U.S. southern border, pointing to crime in Germany and gangs in the U.S. as the reason tough laws are necessary.

He tweeted: "We don't want what is happening with immigration in Europe to happen with us!"

This spring, the Trump administration ordered prosecutors to charge every person illegally crossing the border. Children traveling with the adults have been separated and placed in detention centers.

Trump blamed Democrats for not fixing the law, despite the GOP being divided on the issue and unable to agree on an immigration plan. He tweeted: "Where is the outcry for the killings and crime being caused by gangs and thugs, including MS-13, coming into our country illegally?"

Several high-profile killings in Germany in which migrants were suspects made national headlines. But according to official crime statistics released last month, crime in Germany dropped nearly 10 percent in 2017 compared with the previous year.

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8:50 a.m.

Former Trump adviser Anthony Scaramucci says it "doesn't feel right" for the Trump administration to blame Democrats for separating parents and children at the southern border as a way of pressuring Democrats into negotiating on a Republican immigration bill.

President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday, "The Democrats should get together with their Republican counterparts and work something out on Border Security & Safety. Don't wait until after the election because you are going to lose!"

But Scaramucci noted on CNN Monday that Republicans control the House, Senate and presidency. Using the separation of children and parents "as a leverage point or a negotiating point...just doesn't feel right," he said.

Nearly 2,000 children have been taken from their parents since Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the administration's "zero tolerance" policy, which directs Homeland Security officials to refer all cases of illegal entry into the United States for prosecution.

Scaramucci told CNN that images of children being taken from these parents or in holding areas "is very, very bad for the Republican party and it's very bad for the president."

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4:16 a.m.

The emotional policy of separating children from their parents is also starting to divide Republicans and their allies as Democrats turn up the pressure.

Former first lady Laura Bush called the policy "cruel" and "immoral" while GOP Sen. Susan Collins expressed concern about it and a former adviser to President Donald Trump said he thought the issue was going to hurt the president at some point. Religious groups, including some conservative ones, are protesting.

This pressure is coming as White House officials have tried to distance themselves from the policy. Trump blames Democrats falsely for the situation. The administration put the policy in place and could easily end it after it has led to a spike in cases of split and distraught families.