New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a political opponent of U.S. President Donald Trump, said on Tuesday that the state would sue the Trump administration for separating children of immigrants from their parents when apprehended illegally crossing the U.S. border.

The separations and detention of children at the southern U.S. border with Mexico have caused an uproar in the United States and condemnation abroad, fueled by videos of children in cages and audiotape of children wailing for their parents that has been broadcast on cable networks and posted on social media.

"The Trump Administration's policy to tear apart families is a moral failing and a human tragedy," Cuomo, a Democrat, said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.