George Takei never expected to find a silver lining in the time he spent at a Japanese internment camp, but the "Star Trek" actor now says with "hideous irony" that he didn't have it so bad compared to the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant families at the U.S. border.
Takei, who lived with his family in an internment camp during World War II, wrote in an op-ed for Foreign Policy Tuesday that the current situation _ part of a "zero tolerance" policy that criminally prosecutes anyone caught entering the U.S. illegally _ is "worse" than what he experienced at age 5.
"At least during the internment of Japanese-Americans, I and other children were not stripped from our parents. We were not pulled screaming from our mothers' arms," he wrote. "We were not left to change the diapers of younger children by ourselves."
Takei wrote that he and his family were sent to live in a racetrack horse stall for several weeks, but that he received comfort from his parents, who eased the young actor by telling him they were simply on vacation.
"At least during the internment, we remained a family, and I credit that alone for keeping the scars of our unjust imprisonment from deepening on my soul," he wrote.
Takei also added a call to action, urging lawmakers to learn from past mistakes.
"I am hopeful that today there will, should be, must be, far more people who speak up, both among our leaders and the public, and that the future writes the history of our resistance _ not, yet again, of our compliance," he wrote.
The actor isn't the only famous face to publicly denounce the state of affairs, which President Trump has repeatedly blamed on the Democrats.
Former First Lady Laura Bush penned an op-ed in the Washington Post Sunday saying that the "immoral" separation of parent and child "breaks (her) heart," while other stars like Judd Apatow and Chrissy Teigen have expressed criticism on Twitter.
