Trump, GOP To Huddle As Outrage Builds Over 'Zero Tolerance' Border Policy
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WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump and House Republicans are set for a crucial meeting as lawmakers push to end the policy of separating children from their parents at the southern border.
Members of both parties are decrying the administration's "zero tolerance" approach to migrant detention. Many of them are demanding that the administration act to keep families together.
Legislation in the House could end the family separations, but it appears unlikely to pass. Senators say they may soon work on a bill of their own.
The Trump administration says the family separations are required under the law and can only be ended by Congress. Democrats say Trump is refusing to take responsibility for his own policy.
Meanwhile, an audio recording that appears to capture the heartbreaking voices of Spanish-speaking children crying out for their parents at a U.S. immigration facility has stoked the outrage over the policy.
"Papa! Papa!" one child is heard saying in the audio file that was first reported by the nonprofit ProPublica and later provided to The Associated Press.
Human rights attorney Jennifer Harbury said she received the tape from a whistleblower and told ProPublica it was recorded in the last week. She did not provide details about where exactly it was recorded.
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