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

US Announces New Fentanyl-Related Visa Restriction Policy

DON'T MISS

Trump Administration Has ‘No Imminent Plans’ to Refill Nation’s Emergency Oil Reserve

DON'T MISS

Why Is Usually Sleepy Fresno County Schools Superintendent Race Suddenly Hot?

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Authorities Seek Leads After Armed Robbery in Earlimart

DON'T MISS

US Justice Department to Probe Hiring Practices at University of California

DON'T MISS

White House Wants Major Cut in US War Crimes, Accountability Funding, Sources Say

DON'T MISS

No Known Intelligence That Iran Moved Uranium, US Defense Chief Says

DON'T MISS

What Does the Fresno County Schools Superintendent Do? Read This Q&A to Find Out

DON'T MISS

Israel Says Iran’s Supreme Leader Avoided Assassination by Going Underground

DON'T MISS

Much of LA’s Community of Immigrants Is Hiding, Leaving a Hole in the Fabric of the City

UP NEXT

Newsom and Legislature Tangle With Construction Unions Over Minimum Wage

UP NEXT

Tesla Executive, Elon Musk Confidant Leaves EV Maker, Bloomberg News Reports

UP NEXT

4 Million Acres of California Forests Could Lose Protection. What Trump’s ‘Roadless Rule’ Repeal Could Do

UP NEXT

Trump Administration Orders CA to Strip Trans Athlete of Medals

UP NEXT

SoCal Vice Mayor Urges Street Gang ‘Cholos’ to Rise Up Against ICE

UP NEXT

How a Birthday Boat Ride on Lake Tahoe Turned Tragic

UP NEXT

Cuomo Concedes to Mamdani in New York City Democratic Mayoral Contest

UP NEXT

Mamdani Holds Lead Over Cuomo in Democratic Primary for NYC Mayor

UP NEXT

Suspect in Bombing at California Fertility Clinic Dies in Federal Custody

UP NEXT

Poll: Most Californians Prefer Lower Taxes and Fewer Services, Skeptical of Gov’t Spending

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

Tulare County Authorities Seek Leads After Armed Robbery in Earlimart

1 hour ago

US Justice Department to Probe Hiring Practices at University of California

2 hours ago

White House Wants Major Cut in US War Crimes, Accountability Funding, Sources Say

2 hours ago

No Known Intelligence That Iran Moved Uranium, US Defense Chief Says

2 hours ago

What Does the Fresno County Schools Superintendent Do? Read This Q&A to Find Out

2 hours ago

Israel Says Iran’s Supreme Leader Avoided Assassination by Going Underground

2 hours ago

Much of LA’s Community of Immigrants Is Hiding, Leaving a Hole in the Fabric of the City

2 hours ago

US Supreme Court to Issue Term’s Final Rulings on Friday

2 hours ago

Driver Crashes Into Farm Equipment While Distracted by Phone, Fresno Authorities Say

3 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Timothy Edward Allen

3 hours ago

US Announces New Fentanyl-Related Visa Restriction Policy

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday announced a new visa restriction policy aimed at stopping the flow of fentanyl and other illicit ...

29 minutes ago

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at the start of a NATO leaders summit in The Hague, Netherlands June 25, 2025. (Reuters File)
29 minutes ago

US Announces New Fentanyl-Related Visa Restriction Policy

A boat sails along the Brazos Harbor in Freeport, Texas, U.S., June 23, 2025. (Reuters File)
49 minutes ago

Trump Administration Has ‘No Imminent Plans’ to Refill Nation’s Emergency Oil Reserve

1 hour ago

Why Is Usually Sleepy Fresno County Schools Superintendent Race Suddenly Hot?

Two armed suspects robbed customers and a clerk at a gas station in Earlimart Wednesday, June 25, 2025, night before fleeing in a blue vehicle. (Tulare County SO)
1 hour ago

Tulare County Authorities Seek Leads After Armed Robbery in Earlimart

2 hours ago

US Justice Department to Probe Hiring Practices at University of California

A view of the White House in Washington, U.S., July 20, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo
2 hours ago

White House Wants Major Cut in US War Crimes, Accountability Funding, Sources Say

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force General Dan Caine, speak during a press conference at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., June 26, 2025. (Reuters/Idrees Ali)
2 hours ago

No Known Intelligence That Iran Moved Uranium, US Defense Chief Says

2 hours ago

What Does the Fresno County Schools Superintendent Do? Read This Q&A to Find Out

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

Search

Send this to a friend