ProPublica, a nonprofit that specializes in investigative reporting, has acquired and released an audio recording of an immigration detention center where President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy is being enacted. “The desperate sobbing of 10 Central American children, separated from their parents one day last week by immigration authorities at the border, makes for excruciating listening,” ProPublica reports. “Many of them sound like they’re crying so hard, they can barely breathe. They scream ‘Mami’ and ‘Papá’ over and over again, as if those are the only words they know.”
The audio also includes the voice of a joking Border Patrol agent. “Well, we have an orchestra here,” he says about the screaming children. “What’s missing is a conductor.”
Previously, images of caged and crying children gave a face to the story. This audio helps give it a voice as well.
Aside from the screams, the audio also includes the voice of a nine-year old girl trying to get assistance to call her aunt, whose phone number she has memorized.