--- title: George Takei Slams Trump's Family Separation Policy description: Star Trek actor George Takei said the Trump Administration's family separation policy is worse than Japanese internment camps in one way canonical: https://time.com/5316734/george-takei-internment-camp-family-separation/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-20T00:15:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:21.490Z article:section: Politics og:title: George Takei on Family Separation: 'At Least During the Internment, We Remained a Family' og:description: "We were not pulled screaming from our mothers’ arms" og:url: https://time.com/5316734/george-takei-internment-camp-family-separation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f7a43f4f8763818/6989336f929fad4b3abf0de9/george-takei-internment-immigration.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: An Evening With George Takei og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: George Takei on Family Separation: 'At Least During the Internment, We Remained a Family' twitter:description: "We were not pulled screaming from our mothers’ arms" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f7a43f4f8763818/6989336f929fad4b3abf0de9/george-takei-internment-immigration.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # George Takei Slams Family Separation Policy: 'At Least During the Internment, We Remained a Family' ## Video: Nearly 2,000 Children Have Been Separated From Their Families During Trump Border Crackdown [Watch (HLS stream): Nearly 2,000 Children Have Been Separated From Their Families During Trump Border Crackdown](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mdVWChjR.m3u8) (3:26)  _Published 2018-06-18. Nearly 2,000 children were separated from their families during a six-week period in April and May, as the Trump Administration cracked down on illegal immigration with a “zero-tolerance” policy of separating families at the border_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jun 20, 2018 12:15 AM UTC  Actor George Takei speaks onstage during 'An Evening with George Takei' at the Long Center on May 4, 2018 in Austin, Texas. Actor George Takei speaks onstage during 'An Evening with George Takei' at the Long Center on May 4, 2018 in Austin, Texas.Rick Kern/WireImage  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jun 20, 2018 12:15 AM UTC _Star Trek_ actor George Takei, who was detained in a [Japanese American internment camp](http://time.com/5314955/separation-families-japanese-internment-camps/) when he was 5 years old, said Tuesday that the Trump Administration’s [family separation policy](http://time.com/5311971/parents-children-us-border/) is worse “in one core, horrifying way.” “At least during the internment of Japanese-Americans, I and other children were not stripped from our parents. We were not pulled screaming from our mothers’ arms. We were not left to change the diapers of younger children by ourselves,” Takei wrote in a [column for _Foreign Policy_](http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/06/19/at-least-during-the-internment-are-words-i-thought-id-never-utter-family-separation-children-border/). “At least during the internment, we remained a family, and I credit that alone for keeping the scars of our unjust imprisonment from deepening on my soul.” > [](https://twitter.com/GeorgeTakei/status/1009062984184946688) Nearly [2,000 children were separated](http://time.com/5314128/trump-immigration-family-separation-2000-children/) from their parents during a six-week period in April and May, as the Trump Administration’s [“zero-tolerance” immigration policy](http://time.com/5268572/jeff-sessions-illegal-border-separated/) took effect. Images of immigrant children — separated from their parents and detained after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border — have sparked comparisons to the [internment of Japanese Americans](http://time.com/5314955/separation-families-japanese-internment-camps/) during World War II. “These images are eerily reminiscent of the internment camps for U.S. citizens and noncitizens of Japanese descent during World War II, now considered to have been one of the most shameful episodes in U.S. history,” former First Lady Laura Bush wrote in a [Washington _Post_ column](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/laura-bush-separating-children-from-their-parents-at-the-border-breaks-my-heart/2018/06/17/f2df517a-7287-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.6aee5610dcad) this week, [condemning the family separation policy](http://time.com/5315482/first-ladies-trumps-border-family-separation-policy/). The policy generated outrage this week from [religious leaders](http://time.com/5316396/united-methodist-church-discipline-jeff-sessions-child-separation/), immigrant rights activists and some Republicans. President Trump has both [defended the family separation policy](http://time.com/5316270/family-separation-policy-donald-trump-nfib/) and [falsely blamed it on Democrats](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/16/us/politics/trump-democrats-separation-policy.html). “The internment happened because of fear and hatred, but also because of a failure of political leadership,” Takei wrote in his column. “In 1941, there were few politicians who dared stand up to the internment order. I am hopeful that today there will, should be, must be, far more people who speak up, both among our leaders and the public, and that the future writes the history of our resistance — not, yet again, of our compliance.” Read Takei’s full column [here](http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/06/19/at-least-during-the-internment-are-words-i-thought-id-never-utter-family-separation-children-border/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5316734/george-takei-internment-camp-family-separation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5316734/george-takei-internment-camp-family-separation/"},"headline":"George Takei Slams Family Separation Policy: 'At Least During the Internment, We Remained a Family'","datePublished":"2018-06-20T00:15:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:53:21.490Z","description":"\"We were not pulled screaming from our mothers’ arms\"","url":"https://time.com/5316734/george-takei-internment-camp-family-separation/","keywords":["Immigration","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f7a43f4f8763818/6989336f929fad4b3abf0de9/george-takei-internment-immigration.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8f7a43f4f8763818/6989336f929fad4b3abf0de9/george-takei-internment-immigration.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"An Evening With George Takei","caption":"An Evening With George Takei","creditText":"Rick Kern/WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/immigration/","name":"Immigration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5316734/george-takei-internment-camp-family-separation/","name":"George Takei Slams Family Separation Policy: 'At Least During the Internment, We Remained a Family'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Nearly 2,000 Children Have Been Separated From Their Families During Trump Border Crackdown","description":"Nearly 2,000 children were separated from their families during a six-week period in April and May, as the Trump Administration cracked down on illegal immigration with a “zero-tolerance” policy of separating families at the border","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/mdVWChjR/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-06-18T17:11:32.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mdVWChjR.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5316734/george-takei-internment-camp-family-separation/","duration":"PT3M26S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5316734/george-takei-internment-camp-family-separation/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```