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U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.[/caption] Current and former state and federal prosecutors are calling on U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reverse his zero-tolerance policy targeting families who have illegally entered the United States’ southern border. Democratic state attorneys general urged Sessions in a letter Tuesday to “immediately” end the policy, writing that separating children from parents could violate the law and Constitution. “The policy is not only inhumane, but it also raises serious concerns regarding the violation of children’s rights, constitutional principles of due process and equal protection, and the efforts of state law enforcement officials to stop crime,” said the letter, signed by 21 attorneys general, including California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. “Because of these concerns, we demand that the Department of Justice immediately cease these draconian practices.” The letter, led by New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, also includes signatures from the state attorneys general in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Dozens of former U.S. attorneys, appointed under Democratic and Republican administrations, also pressed Sessions in a separate letter Tuesday to end the practice, calling it a “radical departure” from previous DOJ policy. The twin letters are the latest in an onslaught of criticism for the Trump administration. In April, Sessions announced the zero-tolerance policy, which has resulted in around 2,000 children being separated from their parents within a six-week period. The former U.S. attorneys who signed onto Tuesday’s letter would have been the prosecutors directed to handle the cases at the border. Former Northern District of California U.S. Attorneys Kevin Ryan and Melinda Haag, who served under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama respectively, are among the over 70 people names appearing on the letter. Benjamin Wagner and Eileen Decker, who served as the U.S. Attorneys in the Eastern and Central Districts under Obama, also signed the letter. “As former U.S. Attorneys, we know that none of these consequences — nor the policy itself — is required by law. Rather, its implementation and its execution are taking place solely at your direction, and the unfolding tragedy falls squarely on your shoulders,” the letter from the former U.S. attorneys said. “It is time for you to announce that this policy was ill-conceived and that its consequences and cost are too drastic, too inhumane, and flatly inconsistent with the mission and values of the United States Department of Justice. It is time for you to end it.” Sessions has defended the policy, which he said is designed to deter future immigrants from illegally crossing the U.S. border. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen also doubled down at a press conference Monday, and said the government is just enforcing the law against those illegally entering the U.S. Ross Todd contributed reporting to this story.