Migrant parents separated from their kids wrote an open letter to America

"To the people of the United States, please help us," begins an open letter to America handwritten in Spanish and signed Sunday by 54 migrant parents who remain separated from their children and detained in Texas.

"We are desperate parents," the note continues. "We were not prepared for the nightmare that we faced here. The United States government kidnapped our children with tricks and didn't give us the opportunity to say goodbye."

The parents were separated from their children more than a month ago, and since then contact, even by phone, has been extremely limited. "Each day is more painful that the last. Many of us have only had the chance to speak to our children once (this is very difficult because the social workers never answer)," the letter explains. "The children cry; they don't recognize our voices; and they feel abandoned and unloved. This makes us feel like we are dead."

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The letter's signatories are seeking asylum in the United States while they wait to be reunited with their children. They are held at the Port Isabel Service Detention Center in Los Fresnos, Texas. As of Friday, about 2,500 children remain separated from their families.