Listen to heartbreaking cries of children begging for parents, as ‘US border agent’ likens them to an ‘orchestra’
Hundreds of migrant children are being held in cages created by metal fencing at an old warehouse in Texas
An audio recording that apparently captures the heartbreaking voices of small Spanish-speaking children crying out for their parents at a US immigration facility took centre-stage on Monday 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 by the non-profit ProPublica and later provided to Associated Press.
At one point, a man identified by ProPublica as a border agent jokes in Spanish over the wailing children: “Well, we have an orchestra here.”
Human rights lawyer Jennifer Harbury said she received the tape from a whistle-blower and told ProPublica it was recorded in the last week. She did not provide details about where exactly it was recorded.
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 centres and the children are well cared for, stressing that Congress needs to plug loopholes in the law so families can stay together.