Emotional audio adds to outrage

Hardline Trump says he won't let the US become a 'migrant camp'

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - An audio recording that appears to capture the heartbreaking voices of small Spanish-speaking children crying out for their parents at a US immigration facility took center 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 reported by the nonprofit ProPublica.

Human rights attorney Jennifer Harbury said she received the tape from a whistleblower and told Pro-Publica 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 centers and the children are well cared for, stressing that Congress needs to plug loopholes in the law so families can stay together.

The audio surfaced as politicians and advocates flocked to the US-Mexico border to visit US immigration detention centers and turn up the pressure on the government.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday he would not allow the United States to become a "migrant camp" as his administration faced a barrage of criticism.

'Zero tolerance' policy

Democrats and some in Trump's own Republican Party have admonished the administration for dividing nearly 2,000 children from their parents between mid-April and the end of May. Medical professionals have said the practice could cause lasting trauma to children.

The separations are the result of Trump's "zero tolerance" policy that arrests all adults who are caught trying to enter the US illegally, including those seeking asylum.

While parents are held in jail, their children are sent to separate detention facilities. Video footage released by the government showed migrant children held in wire cages, sitting on concrete floors.

Trump, whose hardline stance on immigration is a major policy of his presidency, responded sharply to critics on Monday.

"The United States will not be a migrant camp, and it will not be a refugee holding facility. It won't be. You look at what's happening in Europe, you look at what's happening in other places - we can't allow that to happen to the United States, not on my watch," Trump said at the White House while announcing an unrelated policy.

Border crossings briefly dropped after Trump took office with his hardline immigration platform in January 2017, but have since risen to levels seen during the administration of his predecessor, Barack Obama.

Almost 52,000 people were caught trying to cross the southern border illegally in May, according to government figures.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said refugee and migrant "children must not be traumatized by being separated from their parents". In Geneva, the top UN human rights official called on the Trump administration to halt its "unconscionable" policy of forcibly separating children from migrant parents.

Governors of Massachusetts, New York and Colorado said they would not send national guard troops to help with border enforcement because of the separation policy.

The debate drew in current and former presidential wives, who typically steer clear of divisive debates. Laura Bush and Michelle Obama condemned the practice, while Melania Trump released a statement on Sunday saying she "hates to see" children separated from their families.

Ap - Reuters

(China Daily 06/20/2018 page11)