Watched by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen (L) and Vice President Mike Pence (R), U.S. President Donald Trump signs on June 20, 2018 an executive order on immigration at the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (AFP Photo)

WASHINGTON, June 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump, facing domestic and international backlash, signed an executive order Wednesday to end the administration's controversial practice of separating migrant children from parents crossing the U.S. border illegally.

The move comes as the practice, as a result of the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" policy against illegal immigration, has aroused sharp criticism and fury from both home and abroad in recent days.

"We are going to keep families together," Trump said at the White House, adding that he "didn't like the sight or the feeling" of the divided families.

Trump's order, drafted by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, directs her department to keep families together after they are detained for illegal border-crossing. But the president said that the "zero tolerance" policy will continue.