Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
'Papa! Papa!' Audio of Children Stokes Rage Over Separation
Bill McEwen updated website photo 2024
By Bill McEwen, News Director
Published 7 years ago on
June 19, 2018

Share

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — An audio recording that appears to capture the heartbreaking voices of small Spanish-speaking children crying out for their parents at a U.S. immigration facility took center stage in the growing uproar over the Trump administration’s policy of separating immigrant children from their parents.
“Papa! Papa!” one child is heard weeping in the audio file that was first reported Monday by the nonprofit ProPublica and later provided to The Associated Press. Human rights attorney Jennifer Harbury said she received the tape from a whistleblower and told ProPublica it was recorded in the last week. She did not provide details about where exactly it was recorded.

The Mormon church said it is “deeply troubled” by the separation of families at the border and urged national leaders to find compassionate solutions.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said she had not heard the audio but said children taken into custody by the government are being treated humanely. She said the government has high standards for detention centers and the children are well cared for and stressed that Congress needs to plug loopholes in the law so families can stay together.
The audio surfaced as politicians and advocates flocked to the U.S.-Mexico border to visit U.S. immigration detention centers and turn up the pressure on the Trump administration. The president was to visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the crisis with House Republicans.

Massachusetts Governor Calls Back National Guard

And the backlash over the policy widened. The Mormon church said it is “deeply troubled” by the separation of families at the border and urged national leaders to find compassionate solutions. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, reversed a decision to send a National Guard helicopter from his state to the Mexican border to assist in a deployment, citing the administration’s “cruel and inhumane” policy.
At the border, an estimated 80 people pleaded guilty Monday to immigration charges, including some who asked the judge questions such as “What’s going to happen to my daughter?” and “What will happen to my son?”
Attorneys at the hearings said the immigrants had brought two dozen boys and girls with them to the U.S., and the judge replied that he did not know what would happen to their children.

Lawmakers Tour Detention Facility

Several groups of lawmakers toured a nearby facility in Brownsville, Texas, that houses hundreds of immigrant children.
Democratic Rep. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico said the location was a former hospital converted into living quarters for children, with rooms divided by age group. There was even a small room for infants, complete with two high chairs, where two baby boys wore matching rugby style shirts with orange and white stripes.

“When you exempt a group of people from the law … that creates a draw.” — Manuel Padilla, Border Patrol’s chief agent in Rio Grande Valley
Another group of lawmakers on Sunday visited an old warehouse in McAllen, Texas, where hundreds of children are being held in cages created by metal fencing. One cage held 20 youngsters.
More than 1,100 people were inside the large, dark facility, which is divided into separate wings for unaccompanied children, adults on their own, and mothers and fathers with children.

Crackdown Needed Trump & Border Guards Say

In Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, the busiest corridor for people trying to enter the U.S., Border Patrol officials say they must crack down on migrants and separate adults from children as a deterrent to others trying to get into the U.S. illegally.
“When you exempt a group of people from the law … that creates a draw,” said Manuel Padilla, the Border Patrol’s chief agent there.
President Donald Trump emphatically defended his administration’s policy Monday, again falsely blaming Democrats.
“The United States will not be a migrant camp, and it will not be a refugee holding facility,” he declared. “Not on my watch.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, speaking to reporters during a tour of San Diego immigration detention facilities with Rep. Juan Vargas and other House Democrats, said family separation is a “heartbreaking, barbarian issue that could be changed in a moment by the president of the United States rescinding his action.”
“It so challenges the conscience of our country that it must be changed and must be changed immediately,” she said during a news conference at a San Diego terminal that is connected to the airport in Tijuana, Mexico, by a bridge.

Sen. Cruz Announces Emergency Bill

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas announced late Monday that he was introducing emergency legislation intended to keep immigrant families together.
“All Americans are rightly horrified by the images we are seeing on the news, children in tears pulled away from their mothers and fathers,” Cruz said. “This must stop.”
 

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Townsizing? Land Snorkeling? A User’s Guide to the Latest Travel Lingo

DON'T MISS

Trump Trade War Has Already Had Huge Effect on California Ports

DON'T MISS

Cambodian American Chefs Are Finding Success and Raising Their Culture’s Profile. On Their Terms

DON'T MISS

Ancient DNA Reveals a New Group of People Who Lived Near Land Bridge Between the Americas

DON'T MISS

FDA Approves Moderna’s New Lower-Dose COVID-19 Vaccine

DON'T MISS

Cabrera, Three Relievers Combine to Lead Marlins to Win Over Giants

DON'T MISS

Spike in Steel Tariffs Could Imperil Trump Promise of Lower Grocery Prices

DON'T MISS

Dodgers’ Mookie Betts Out With Broken Toe After Late-Night Bedroom Mishap

DON'T MISS

California Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Hilton Vows to Repeal Transgender Athlete Law

DON'T MISS

Trans Athlete Competes in California Championships in Clovis Despite National Controversy

UP NEXT

How Gentrification Is Killing the Bus: California’s Rising Rents Are Pushing Out Commuters

UP NEXT

Loretta Swit, Emmy-winner Who Played Houlihan on Pioneering TV Series ‘M.A.S.H.,’ Has Died at 87

UP NEXT

Medicaid Work Rules Could Leave a Million Californians With No Health Insurance

UP NEXT

California Lawmaker Won’t Be Charged After Citation for Suspicion of Impaired Driving

UP NEXT

1 in 4 US Children Have Parents With Substance Use Disorder, Study Finds

UP NEXT

Dozens Sickened in Expanding Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Recalled Cucumbers

UP NEXT

Newsom Tussles With Local Officials Over Homelessness

UP NEXT

How Trump’s Vow to Revoke Chinese Student Visas Could Hurt California

UP NEXT

Speaker Johnson Raises Campaign Money in Fresno

UP NEXT

A Program Paying CA Jurors $100 a Day Would End Due to Newsom’s Budget Cuts

Bill McEwen,
News Director
Bill McEwen is news director and columnist for GV Wire. He joined GV Wire in August 2017 after 37 years at The Fresno Bee. With The Bee, he served as Opinion Editor, City Hall reporter, Metro columnist, sports columnist and sports editor through the years. His work has been frequently honored by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, including authoring first-place editorials in 2015 and 2016. Bill and his wife, Karen, are proud parents of two adult sons, and they have two grandsons. You can contact Bill at 559-492-4031 or at Send an Email

Ancient DNA Reveals a New Group of People Who Lived Near Land Bridge Between the Americas

14 hours ago

FDA Approves Moderna’s New Lower-Dose COVID-19 Vaccine

1 day ago

Cabrera, Three Relievers Combine to Lead Marlins to Win Over Giants

1 day ago

Spike in Steel Tariffs Could Imperil Trump Promise of Lower Grocery Prices

1 day ago

Dodgers’ Mookie Betts Out With Broken Toe After Late-Night Bedroom Mishap

1 day ago

California Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Hilton Vows to Repeal Transgender Athlete Law

1 day ago

Trans Athlete Competes in California Championships in Clovis Despite National Controversy

1 day ago

Tim Walz Urges Democrats to Fight Back Harder Against ‘Bully’ Trump

1 day ago

US Defense Secretary Warns Indo-Pacific Allies of ‘Imminent’ Threat From China

2 days ago

Hamas Responds to the US Ceasefire Proposal for Gaza While Seeking Amendments

2 days ago

Townsizing? Land Snorkeling? A User’s Guide to the Latest Travel Lingo

For your next trip, have you considered townsizing? What about choosing a detour destination? And instead of forest-bathing, maybe it’...

13 hours ago

13 hours ago

Townsizing? Land Snorkeling? A User’s Guide to the Latest Travel Lingo

13 hours ago

Trump Trade War Has Already Had Huge Effect on California Ports

14 hours ago

Cambodian American Chefs Are Finding Success and Raising Their Culture’s Profile. On Their Terms

14 hours ago

Ancient DNA Reveals a New Group of People Who Lived Near Land Bridge Between the Americas

1 day ago

FDA Approves Moderna’s New Lower-Dose COVID-19 Vaccine

1 day ago

Cabrera, Three Relievers Combine to Lead Marlins to Win Over Giants

1 day ago

Spike in Steel Tariffs Could Imperil Trump Promise of Lower Grocery Prices

1 day ago

Dodgers’ Mookie Betts Out With Broken Toe After Late-Night Bedroom Mishap

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend