Close X
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
ADVT 
International

I'm Alone:  Audio Of Children Crying For Parents At Detention Centre Sparks Outrage Against Trump

Darpan News Desk IANS, 19 Jun, 2018 12:05 PM
    A heartrending audio recording surfaced on Monday of immigrant children crying inconsolably for their parents at a detention centre as a defiant President Donald Trump and his officials continued to defend the policy to separate them from families crossing into the United States illegally.
     
     
    They asked for their “papi (Spanish for father)”, “mami (mother)” or a relative and some had telephone numbers that they pleaded with consular officials to call.
     
     
    ProPublica, an investigative news publication that obtained the recording, called one of the numbers.
     
     
    “It was the hardest moment in my life,” the relative, an aunt, said. “Imagine getting a call from your six-year-old niece. She’s crying and begging me to go get her. She says, ‘I promise I’ll behave, but please get me out of here. I’m all alone’,” the aunt added.
     
     
     
     
    The nearly eight-minute recording shook a nation already reeling from images and news reports about children, some as young as two, being ripped from their parents and taken to detention centres, which are beginning to be described by critics as “cages”.
     
     
    The recording played in White House’s news briefing room — by one of the reporters — before the start of the daily briefing at which Kirstjen Nielsen, head of the department that oversees immigration and border security, aggressively defended the policy and flatly denied what was happening to these children amounted to “child abuse”.
     
     
    “We have high standards. We give them meals and we give them education and we give them medical care. There are videos, there are TVs,” Nielsen, secretary of the department of homeland security, said.
     
     
    MELANIA TRUMP ‘HATES’ TO SEE FAMILIES SEPARATED AT US-MEXICO BORDER, CALLS FOR END TO SEPARATION
     
     
    First lady Melania Trump “hates” to see families separated at the border and hopes “both sides of the aisle” can reform the nation’s immigration laws, according to a statement Sunday about the controversy over separation of immigrant parents and children at the U.S.-Mexico border.
     
     
    Mrs. Trump didn’t refer specifically to the Trump administration’s “no tolerance” policy, which was leading to a spike in children being separated from their families. Government statistics indicate that nearly 2,000 children were separated from their families over a six-week period in April and May.
     
     
    A spokeswoman for the wife of President Donald Trump issued the statement after several days of images of crying children appearing on television and online.
     
     
    “Mrs. Trump hates to see children separated from their families and hopes both sides of the aisle can finally come together to achieve successful immigration reform,” said Stephanie Grisham, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Trump. “She believes we need to be a country that follows all laws, but also a country that governs with heart.”
     
     
    While the statement suggested the matter was an issue for Congress, Democratic lawmakers and others have pointed out that no law mandates the separation of children and parents at the border. A new Trump administration policy, which went into effect in May, sought to maximize criminal prosecutions of people caught trying to enter the U.S. illegally. More adults were being jailed as a result, which led to their children being separated from them.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Truck Drivers Deny Causing Road Crash Deaths Of 8 Indians In UK

    Truck Drivers Deny Causing Road Crash Deaths Of 8 Indians In UK
    Two truck drivers charged with causing the deaths of eight Indians due to dangerous driving on a UK highway in August denied the allegations in court on Friday and will now stand trial on the charges.

    Truck Drivers Deny Causing Road Crash Deaths Of 8 Indians In UK

    Indian-Origin Radio Host Sunil Thakker Pleads Guilty To Sexually Harassing US Teenager

    Indian-Origin Radio Host Sunil Thakker Pleads Guilty To Sexually Harassing US Teenager
    As part of a plea deal, Sunil Thakker, 51, of Masala Radio station is prohibited from coming into contact with teenage girls under 17.

    Indian-Origin Radio Host Sunil Thakker Pleads Guilty To Sexually Harassing US Teenager

    Sushma Swaraj Asks For Probe Into Adoption Of 3-Year-Old Killed In US

    External Affairs Minister Sushma Swarajon Friday sought a thorough probe into adoption process of the three-year-old Indian American girl Sherin Mathews who has died in Texas,

    Sushma Swaraj Asks For Probe Into Adoption Of 3-Year-Old Killed In US

    'Sherin Mathews Was Adjusting, But Had Eating Issues', India Was Told

    The social worker who visited Sherin Mathews' family for follow-ups recommended "webinars and other resource for feeding issues in adopted children that may be helpful in developing different strategies for Sherin Mathews.

    'Sherin Mathews Was Adjusting, But Had Eating Issues', India Was Told

    Outspoken Pakistani Journalist Ahmad Noorani Attacked

    Outspoken Pakistani Journalist Ahmad Noorani Attacked
    Pakistan is among the most dangerous countries in the world for journalism, France-based watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in its annual press freedom report in May.

    Outspoken Pakistani Journalist Ahmad Noorani Attacked

    Finance Minister Bill Morneau Pledges To Donate Money Earned From Morneau Shepell Shares

    Finance Minister Bill Morneau Pledges To Donate Money Earned From Morneau Shepell Shares
    Morneau tells the House of Commons he will donate the difference in the value of his Morneau Shepell shares between the date they were sold and the date he was elected in 2015.

    Finance Minister Bill Morneau Pledges To Donate Money Earned From Morneau Shepell Shares