Lugging little backpacks, smiling immigrant children were scooped up into their parents’ arms Tuesday as the Trump administration scrambled to meet a court-ordered deadline to reunite dozens of youngsters forcibly separated from their families at the border.

First lady Melania Trump said in a statement that she “hates” to see families separated at the border and hopes “both sides of the aisle” can reform the nation’s immigration laws.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she hadn’t seen Sessions’ comments, but affirmed that “it is very biblical to enforce the law."