Dallas Morning News picks Laura Bush as 'Texan of the Year'

DALLAS, Texas -- The editorial board of The Dallas Morning News has picked former first lady Laura Bush as the newspaper's "Texan of the Year," in part for speaking out against child separation at the border.

The newspaper on Sunday said Bush wrote "one of the most consequential op-eds of the year" when she published a Father's Day column calling the Trump administration's zero-tolerance immigration policy "cruel" and "immoral."

The policy led to nearly 3,000 children being separated from their families.

Bush told the editorial board she saw it as a time when her voice could make a difference. The board said Bush told them she had also considered calling the Homeland Security secretary.

The newspaper had earlier named a U.S. Border Patrol agent as one of the finalists for the recognition.