Papa!' adds to separation rage

Brownsville (US): 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 centre 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 by the nonprofit ProPublica and later provided to the AP.

Human rights attorney Jennifer Harbury said she got a tape from a whistleblower and told ProPublica it was recorded last week. She didn’t give 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.

The audio surfaced as politicians and advocates flocked to the US-Mexico border to visit US immigration detention centres and turn up the pressure on the Trump administration. 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 leaders to find compassionate solutions.