James Van Der Beek and Wife Kimberly Welcome Fifth Chid

Los Angeles, Jun 18 (PTI) "Dawson Creek" alum James Van Der Beek and wife Kimberly have welcomed their fifth child together.

The 41-year-old actor announced the happy news in an Instagram post sharing pictures of his baby girl.

"Thrilled to announce we welcomed a brand new baby girl into the world Friday morning, just in time for #FathersDay,” he captioned the adorable photos — which included one of him cradling his newborn.

In the post, the actor criticised the US government for separating children of illegal immigrants from their parents.

"As I write this, kids are being ripped from the arms of their parents. By our government. For the kid's benefit? No – the opposite – as a purposeful display of cruelty to deter would-be illegal border crossers and legal asylum seekers (it's happening to both). And it wouldn't be honest to wax poetic about my new-baby bliss without speaking up against this atrocity.

"If we allow our government to de-humanize fathers, and mothers, and children in the name of defending our borders… We've lost a huge part what makes those borders worth defending... This heinous practice was put into place by our own attorney general (who justified it with a cherry-picked Bible verse), and our president blamed rivals before tweeting his list of legislative demands to be met before he stops it," he added.

The U S government announced on Friday that 1,995 children were separated from 1,940 adults at the US-Mexico border between April 19 and May 31.

Two months ago, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a "zero tolerance" policy in which anyone detained for entering the United States illegally would be criminally charged, which in many cases leads to children being separated from their parents.

"Regardless of how you feel about immigration, or a wall, or this president... If we say we're okay with our government using human rights violations as a deterrent or as a bargaining chip...what happens when we find ourselves on the wrong side of the agenda? Either in this administration or the next? This should not be a political issue - it's a human one. A crime against humanity is a crime against us all," James said.

James and Kimberly are also parents to son Joshua, six, and daughters Olivia, seven, Annabel Leah, four, and Emilia, two.

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