One of the migrant girls featured in that heart-wrenching recording has been reunited with her mother

6-year-old migrant girl reunited with her mother

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/ProPublica)

published 13 July 2018

In June, ProPublica released audio of young migrant children sobbing and wailing for their parents after they were separated under President Trump's "zero tolerance" border policy. Especially heart-wrenching were the cries of one Salvadoran girl, 6-year-old Alison Jimena Valencia Madrid, asking for Border Patrol agents to call her aunt to come pick her up. The audio has been credited with helping crystallize opposition to Trump's family-separation policy. Early Friday, ProPublica posted the video of Alison being reunited with her mother, Cindy Madrid, more than a month after they were forcibly separated. The Madrids are seeking asylum.

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On Thursday, the Trump administration said it has returned 57 of 103 separated migrant children under 5 to their parents, after deeming the other 46 kids "ineligible" to be reunited for a variety of reasons. About 3,000 children, mostly age 5 to 17, are supposed to be reunited with their parents by July 26, per court order. "Detaining immigrant children has morphed into a surging industry in the U.S. that now reaps $1 billion annually — a tenfold increase over the past decade," The Associated Press reports, and currently, "more than 11,800 children, from a few months old to 17, are housed in nearly 90 facilities in 15 states."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.