AceShowbiz - Natalie Portman is spearheading a new campaign calling on U.S. lawmakers to stop tearing families apart as authorities crack down on illegal immigration.

U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration have come under heavy criticism of late for adopting a zero-tolerance approach to people illegally crossing over the American border from Mexico, with officials currently separating parents from their kids as they are taken into custody.

Natalie, a mother-of-two, has now joined forces with activists at the National Domestic Workers Alliance to slam the "brutal new policy" via a MoveOn.org petition, which will be delivered to Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, and members of the U.S. Congress.

"This shockingly cruel, traumatic, and inhumane practice has no place in our country," Natalie shares in a statement. "It must be stopped immediately, and without holding these children hostage to pass other anti-immigrant policies.

"We must speak loudly enough, and in large enough numbers, that the media stays focused on this story.

"I've joined the National Domestic Workers Alliance to launch this petition. Please sign it and stay tuned for more ways to help these families".

More than 250,000 people had added their names to the campaign as WENN went to press.

Portman isn't the only star to speak out against the controversial illegal immigration policy - Bette Midler, singer John Legend and his model wife Chrissy Teigen, filmmaker Ron Howard, actresses Evan Rachel Wood and Alyssa Milano, and country legend Willie Nelson are among the celebrities to blast the Trump administration in recent days, while Hollywood veteran Kevin Costner expressed his disgust during an appearance on talk show The View on Tuesday, June 19.

"I don't recognise America...," he remarked. "Separating people with no plan, when those children can't even speak English, can you imagine the terror...? We have to do better".