White House defends immigration policy on separating children amid backlash

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the administration was only strictly enforcing the law

The Trump administration defended its hardline immigration policy at the U.S.-Mexico border on Monday as furor grew over the separation of immigrant parents and children, including video of youngsters sitting in concrete-floored cages.

Democrats blasted such treatment as "barbaric," while a few of President Donald Trump's fellow Republicans also voiced concern as the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives moved toward voting later this week on two pieces of immigration-related legislation.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, a Trump appointee, told reporters at a White House briefing that the administration was only strictly enforcing the law.

"This administration did not create a policy